Throughout my PhD and since graduating I have been a self-employed musician, combining teaching, composing and performing. Composition opportunities have come about through a mixture of competitive applications and contacts. I have just completed a residency with Streetwise Opera.
Collaborating with other students and staff on ambitious creative endeavors, often led by imaginative students. There is a lot of freedom to pursue your own interests and develop unique projects in York.
York is an amazing place to study composition – students are exposed to a wide range of interesting music and given freedom to develop their own unique identities; there are also frequent opportunities to collaborate with performers, which help composition students to become more accomplished and practical in what they write.
Get inspired and don't expect to be spoon-fed your degrees – my experience at York is that what you get out of it depends on what you're prepared to put in.