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Nope. Lots of time performing music, but no composition study. I managed to audit a little bit of music theory one semester, but not the whole course. I study scores I like, slowly plow through some theory books, and I pick up a lot through osmosis on this site. (: Thank you all for sharing your collective knowledge!

I feel like a lot of people on this site write things without much thought as to what directors are looking to perform with their groups. With that in mind here are the most current requests repertoire suggestions from the American Choral Directors Association forums. The same sorts of requests come up frequently. Here's a sampling: Director has a young clarinet player that they would like to feature along with their adult choir. Looking for an SATB sacred anthem appropriate for about 15 adult singers, with a medium difficulty Bb clarinet part. A large choir is going to build a patriotic themed concert around the celebration of the bicentennial of the National Anthem. Looking for songs with names of states in the title. Can be for all men, all women, or both, divisi is fine. Someone is putting together a concert of "one hit wonders" from the classical world. Think Pachelbel's Canon. A memorial concert for someone who died whose personal motto was "Journey Strong." Songs with themes of life's journey, personal strength, hope, and peace. 25 young singers aged 13 to 16 need some a cappella music to show off on tour and at festivals. The group is auditioned, but given the kid's ages, what music would be manageable, a cappella, and still sound interesting for the audience? Music for a winter concert. But not Christmas songs. So sick of Christmas songs. And not songs about snow or snowmen. Looking for music that recognizes winter celebrations around the world, sacred, or secular. 4 different choirs will be performing, aged 4 grade through high school. SATB sacred anthems with brass and organ appropriate for All Saints' Day. A concert of all English music for a choir of about 40 volunteers, plus a few paid professionals. Some instrument parts are possible, but they are hoping to mainly use the organ for any accompaniment. The frequent themes that come up are: -music of a certain difficulty level: be sure you are writing pieces for a variety of difficulty levels, from beginner up to professional -music for a certain grouping of instruments: be sure you are writing for common instrument groupings, an occasional weird mix or odd solo instrument is fine, but your work will be performed more often if you have a piece or two for string quartet too -music to fit seasonal themes and church holidays -for choirs in particular: a cappella music for concerts where there is no piano available or no budget for a pianist -for choirs in particular: easy music to sing with a more difficult and showy accompaniment, so that the pianist can keep the singers in a beginning group together and hide mistakes, while keeping the audience interested -music from certain parts of the world: arrangements of folksongs from Russia, or Nigeria for orchestra, songs in different languages, if you speak more than one language fluently, write choral music in more than one language -music for a certain size group: divisi aside, big groups can do giant dynamics and drama but it's easier for certain things to get muddy, small groups can do intimate tone, improv, and nuance, try to write for everything from solo instruments up to full orchestra Okay, done! Hope that's helpful. Think about what's feasible or common in performance, and your work will be performed more often. If no one has a handbell choir and a brass band together in one place, it doesn't matter how good your piece is. If everything you write is for virtuosi, the number of people who can possibly perform your work shrinks to 1% of the musician population.

...as are you.