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I'm a little late in replying, but if I understand the rules correctly then we should be able to submit works in multiple movements as long as they add up to something within the parameters (in this case, 5-20 minutes.) I know you don't usually write at that length of time Luderart, but I imagine you could write a series of miniatures (soliloquies, sententia etc) for the competition. If I'm wrong, someone correct me, but I think that would work. As for myself, I'm struggling (bravely, if I may say so) to pump this thing out in time. Looking forward to seeing what everyone has in store.

100% yes, everything I've written has benefitted from my experience as an instrumentalist. Trombone less-so than piano, but I find writing music at an instrument to be considerably quicker, more intuitive, and more organic than anything I could produce without it. Hearing physically how tones will react to each other is valuable, regardless of the eventual orchestration. As a brass player, having an understanding of how instruments work: harmonic series, air, breathing, dynamic control, flexibility and physical limitations is helpful when it comes to orchestration.

I should be saying "no" because I barely play anything. However, as a kid I messed around with a guitar long enough to get a hold of all major and minor chords, as well as their relationships (thus allowing me to transpose any tune to any tonality at will). That, in turn, made me conscious of having perfect pitch, since my relatives and friends often asked me to listen to any given piece and immediately tell them the chords needed to play it along - which led to the real discovery of my own ability to craft tunes and work on musical relationships. So, there's always an added benefit when you know how a thing works - but only to some extent. For instance, I have greatly improved my piano writing in the last few years - without ever being able to play it. Same can be said of orchestral writing (my biggest strenght, I think), since nobody actually "plays" an orchestra, and I have never been a conductor.

What about the other big Korsakov pieces? Symphony 2, Capriccio, Coq d'Or, etc.?

I wish this piece existed in live performance, I just hate midi more and more...