I haven’t entered many competitions, but I participated in a big international composition competition when I was younger. The prize included a substantial amount of money and the opportunity for the winning work to be performed. Unfortunately, I won nothing, and my music wasn’t selected for the performance. I put the piece aside and forgot about it.

In the world of music, it’s not uncommon for works initially rejected or overlooked to become significant later on. As it happened, some time after the competition, an orchestra asked me for a piece, and I decided to give them the work that had been unsuccessful in the competition. I was thrilled with the orchestra’s performance, and the video artist Tarvo Hanno Varres even used it in his work, which has since been performed many times.

I’ve had similar experiences where initial disappointment or rejection turned out to be a blessing in disguise. Once, I was commissioned to write a piece for a festival, but due to poor organization, the piece wasn’t what I had hoped for. The performance didn’t meet my expectations either, and I wasn’t shy about expressing my displeasure to the organizer. Critics were also critical of the piece when they reviewed it. However, the music piece persevered, and years later, I used the same material to write an opera called “Into the Fire” at the Vanemuine Theatre’s request. The opera was a hit, running for three seasons and winning multiple awards, and I consider it one of my biggest successes to date. So, it just shows that a disappointment in one context can turn into a triumph in another!