Many people do not start pursuing composition until late in their music studies. Students who enjoy improvising or learning about how music is put together may be composers. Illinois State University composition majors receive reading sessions from nationally prominent ensembles such as Ensemble Dal Niente, Fulcrum Point, and ensemble mise-en. Our annual Red Note New Music Festival brings in prestigious composers such as Pulitzer Prize winners Steven Stucky and William Bolcom to campus. Musicians may play musical instruments, sing, write musical compositions or conduct groups in vocal or instrumental performances. Majoring in music provides students with a sense of aesthetics and an understanding of human expression valuable to many employers. Majoring in music composition will help a student already interested in writing original music hone their craft and bring it to a higher level of professionalism. Our composition majors have gone on to obtain advanced degrees in music theory and composition at institutions such as the University of Pittsburgh, the University of Miami, and the University of Iowa.