On 18 September 2025, a band director and fellow composer asked me:
“When you got started, how did you get your first pieces performed?”
Here’s my response—may it help you, too.
When I began, I sent one piece to one band. Word of mouth did the rest. Within just two years, my Music was being rendered by more than 4,000 conductors around the world.
Vignette #1
Find an ensemble you truly admire and give them the piece. Say something like:
“I love your music-making, and I’d like to share this with you. If you enjoy it, perhaps you’ll program it?”
When I was a high school band director, I ran a Jazz Festival. Our band was strong. Kids from other schools would hand me their own charts and ask, “Would you read this with your band?”
My answer was always: “Sure. Bring your tape recorder and join us in the morning.”
It became a tradition. My students loved sight-reading and playing new works, and those young guest composers had opportunities they would not have otherwise. We ran it like a recording session with minimal takes, the clock running, and everyone giving their best.
The idea of 'competition’ was gone. It was all done with mutual respect. It was only about the MUSIC.
Be like that, (composer). Make it about the Music—not sales, not strategy, or anything else.
Vignette #2
Here’s another story, tied to my first, and large-scale work, Only for Now, which premiered at MIT in 1980.
- I wrote a 12-bar fanfare for our Boston Conservatory brass ensemble.
- I asked Chester Roberts, tubist of the Boston Symphony, to read it down. (Who can say no to 12 bars?)
- I recorded it on my old Panasonic tape recorder. (Look that up in a museum somewhere.)
- The result? Glorious. Everyone loved it, Mr. Roberts loved it, and I learned something about my own orchestration instincts.
- I brought the tape to John Corley, our Wind Ensemble conductor. (Again, who wouldn’t listen to 12 bars?)
- He loved it. Then I asked, “Mr. Corley, if I wrote a piece for the Wind Ensemble, would you play it?”
- He said, “Yes.” So I wrote my first full piece: “A Theme for the Special Olympics.” Not only did he let me conduct it during a BCM concert in 1978, but 41 years later, the Special Olympics Committee formally adopted it.
Composer: I thought I would ask you because you’ve been a huge inspiration to me. I have hope that my music might reach people the way yours has affected me over the years. Thank you for any guidance you might offer!
The world is different now, and there is much decision-making based on “extra-Musical” considerations. Just stay pure. Know who you are and do your best given the scenarios described above. I’m SURE you’ll connect!
Godspeed! S