composer FAIL #55: orchestra pieces

I completely expected this latest composer FAIL from the Minnesota Orchestra Composer Institute since the instrumentation of my orchestra piece is slightly abnormal (and I was not able to provide a decent recording). Fortunately, composer FAILs sting less and less lately, but whenever I receive a rejection letter from an orchestra composition competition I wonder one thing: will this piece ever be performed again?

I wrote this orchestra piece because I was obligated to do so, not because I had a burning desire to write one. Why spend days and months laboriously creating something grand and magical to have it performed only once? Why would my school refuse to play my second orchestra piece when they just haphazardly read through it?¹ How will I be a successful composer if the frequency of my performances was whittled down to…maybe once every ten years?

Lately I've been basing my success solely on how much performers and listeners like my music and how often my pieces are performed. I be…