How do you legitimize the right of young persons’ music to be listened to by an audience beyond their peers?

For most of us, it seems to come down to believing whether the majority of people have the ability to appreciate non-commercial contemporary music.

New Music Images claims it can take any composer and, regardless of the “style” of the music, attract the attention of the media and the American Idol-loving public.

Why do so many composers shy away from declaring themselves pedagogues; do we actually believe that “those who can’t do, teach?”

Perhaps it is time to take matters into our own hands and create something like match.com for facilitating the creation and playing of new music by young players.

How do you teach fundamentals to students who are already writing big, large-scale works without squelching their imaginations? Do you rein them in? Do you let them run wild?

There’s nothing more revealing than borrowing colleagues’ MP3 players; it can be a revelatory window into their psyches, not only for what they listen to, but how they listen and organize.

Why do so few composers go to the players who premiered their pieces to get their honest feedback about what worked and what didn’t in the music?

At a time when there are more female role models, mentors, and opportunities, the number of women entering composition looks as if it is drying up.

Why do we try to prove music’s extra-musical worth, instead of valuing it for its own inherent qualities?