Thanks for your reply,
I'm 18 and started composing about a year ago. I haven't had any training in classical composition, but I have been playing music all my life.
I played piano for 6 years when I was young, and have been playing the trumpet for almost 10 years. In the past I was more involved in jazz, but I studied four years of classical theory in high school.
I started composing last year just to try it out and I pretty much fell in love with it. I completed some pieces and badgered my fellow students to play them for me all year. For kicks I decided to apply to the Mannes late auditions for composition and I got in. I've deferred for a year and am applying to other schools as well while I am an exchange student in Belgium at the moment. Right now I'm just writing as much as I can, and trying to maybe get a few actual lessons in composition before I enter college.
The piece is maybe closer to absolute. I tend to start out with an inspiration or feeling, but I ultimately let the piece just take its course. In this case the title comes from a Rumi poem I really like.
I have some recordings of rehearsals I conducted with some fellow students in high school, but the year ended and I didn't get a chance to have it performed yet. I would like to at some point.
Does that help? :)
I'm using what I've gathered from my years as a musician and what I can look up on my own to write my pieces, so I really really welcome help with anything technique-wise and things like that.