I think that atonality and excessive changes in time signature are requisite when it comes to composing modern orchestral works. At least that's what it's felt like in my (limited) experience when it comes to that type of music.
For my first-ever gig as a violinist I played in a chamber symphony and performed an original modern classical composition. My violin teacher's friend was working on his master's degree in composition and that concert was (part of) his master's thesis. In retrospect I feel like my violin teacher rounded up the required number of string players but one of them backed out in the last minute, and that's how I got the gig. I was definitely the youngest of all the musicians, but everyone treated me as an equal and no one gave me dirty looks for the countless mistakes I made.
We had two or three rehearsals before the concert, and everyone made mistakes. Even the conductor, who wasn't the composer. There were multiple key changes, tempo changes, switches in time signature and no easily discernable melody. It had phrases but nothing that you could easily remember and hum on your way out of the theater. It might be the single most challenging thing I've ever had to play. And yet...I had a lot of fun. I loved that I got to play an original piece with such talented people, and the composer was so earnestly thankful that we took on his composition. He gave us each of us thank you cards and a bottle of wine as a token of appreciation. Well, actually, he gave everyone else wine; I was seventeen at the time and got a gift card to The Body Shop instead, which was well and fine and I used it to buy makeup for prom. But the point is that he was so pleased that he got to hear what he wrote played by human beings and his happiness was infectious. It was a great first gig, an enjoyable little romp into the world of musicians.
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My first gig with my band was historically terrible. It did a great job of relieving us of jitters though.
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