Despite the underwhelming press Classical Music Composers get now-a-days, there are actually a lot of jobs out there for Classical Composers. I remember while in school I always got asked, “What can you do with that degree?” Well, a lot of things. Here’s a list of the top 10 careers a composer can start in:

1. Teaching
   An easy one to start out with is simply teaching other musicians. Either in composing or with your favorite instrument.
2. Performance
   Almost all Composers are good musicians. This is yet another way to tune in on your craft. Playing other Composer’s music is probably the best way to study their techniques.
3. Copyist
   There’s lots of jobs out there for this. One must have music theory training and strong transposition stills. This job has you copying parts from a full score into individual instruments.
4. Transcriber
   This takes a little practice but can be quite useful. One would provided a written score for recorded music and/or performances.
5. Arranger
   Arrangers provide different instrumentation of a piece for band, orchestra, choir and other ensembles. They could take the Star Spangled Banner and Arrange it for a male vocal assemble.
6. Orchestrator
   An Orchestrator is an unsung hero in the music industry. Say a Composer just finished a new piece but only in a condescend piano version. An Orchestrator would then take that piece and figure out which instruments would sound good where and how to group them. This job is almost as important as the composition itself.
7. Editor
   This is a job primarily for printed sheet music. An editor looks for anomalies in a piece, adds articulation and such to a composer’s final product.
8. Conductor
   This is probably the biggest step one could make in his career. Not only are do you prepare the orchestra you might be able to wiggle in some of your own pieces and getting your name out.
9. Film Scores
   Some may not consider this a full-fledged composer but either way it’s a separate job in itself. This requires a lot of patience and flexibility in your writing. Basically you must convey the ideas of the movie within your works. It’s a great opportunity and if anything else a great challenge.
10. Composer
    Obviously this is the ultimate goal. But it can take a lot of time and effort to get recognized on this level. Hey, if John Williams can do it…