It was many years ago, when I realized, that composers had a deeper understanding of music. In the theory classes they were the ones that knew more things than the rest of us, who were mostly performers. The same thing happened in the history class; they knew about composers and styles in more depth than the rest of us. When working at the orchestra, performers who were also composers, understood the big picture and all the why's about the repertoire we were working on and why some things didn't work well in the ensemble. They had better listening skills, more knowledge of harmony and they always could give you a reason of why they came to their own conclusions.
So, there I was, in Calgary on 2016, I wanted to learn, understand, perform, and appreciate post-tonal music. That is when I contacted Dr. Ali Nader Esfahani founder of Synchronicity Studio of Music. We had a conversation about what I waned to learn. He mentioned that if I wanted to understand post-tonal music, I should start by composing, because when you are trying to compose, you get more deeply related to the sounds and when you have to choose between this or that sonority then your listening skills sharpen up, just by the fact that you are listening more carefully when you are trying to choose a sound that expresses what you want. Well, HE WAS RIGHT! The way I started understanding music was deeper and my listening skills have really sharpen up since then. It has been one year an a half since we started working together. It's no magic, the changes happen in small quantities, but when I look back, I realize it has transformed me as a musician. So, from a very personal perspective and based on my own experience, I strongly recommend to anyone that loves music, call it professional performer, amateur or young students, to give it a try, it will change your life.... for better.