Tips on an successful performer-composer relationship As a young college composer, I was often asked to create pieces for my eager colleagues. Happily I would slave a semester away on a composition, only to see the confused faces of the performers when I excitedly handed them my carefully scrawled pages. "Uh, er...Thanks," they would say....then about a week later, they would let me know the piece was "too hard" and they couldn't fit it in this semester, with the exams, juries, and Phi Mu Alpha keg parties coming up. After piling up a dozen rejected pieces, I began developing questions that would help me get to KNOW the performer. QUESTIONS YOU SHOULD ASK BEFORE YOU WRITE A SINGLE NOTE: 1) Do you have a recording or upcoming recital I can hear to listen to you perform? 2) What length of composition can you fit into your schedule? (I recommend starting SHORT with a new performance relationship.) 3) What styles of music do you prefer to perform (if he says Blues o...