As a composer, I’ve been well aware of the difficulties and hardships of working in the industry and trying to build my own practice for the last 6 years or so. I know there will be any number of composers who would be better equipped, knowledgeable and ‘battle-scarred’ to answer this question than I, but I have gained a huge amount of knowledge through executing creative plans – to varying degrees of success over the years, and I hope these observations could be useful to some younger composers just starting out.

How do I get commissioned as a composer? This was a question I would often ask myself when I was younger – and honestly, at the age of 25, I wonder if some of my contemporaries have some magic secret I don’t know, given the number of pieces they are currently writing for commissions! In this article, I want to give you some ideas that have helped me secure commissions in the past which may be of help to you if you are scratching your head thinking the same thing. We’ll look at applying to composer development schemes and creative opportunities.

For many years, my work has been heavily influenced by the landscape of Scotland. Living here on the North-east coast of the country, we are spoiled by beautiful scenery, however, the same can be said for the rest of the country too.

Over the last few months, the world has changed, thanks to our deadly viral nemesis. It has also had a marked impact upon the Arts, and it is likely to have a tight and crippling hold for many more months to come. Who knows how long things will take to return to any form of normality. For many performers, they have seen their livelihoods dry up, relying upon various other parts of their income stream to support themselves. For me as a composer – and a younger one at that, I haven’t noticed that much of a change.