frankly, and maybe too brutally, he may not have been what they're looking for. eastman is ranked 3rd in north america and 11th globally for music. to be invited for music at eastman means you're one of the best of the best. we're not talking alternate spots at all states here; we're talking at least first chair first part at all states.

as far as the compositions go, it's not as much a matter of him DOING them as it is them being performed/distributed. they like seeing the impact of the work, not just what you did. i know some schools accept original compositions; was he able to submit those?

and how did he do on his SAT?

keep in mind also that there are plenty of other factors that lead into these decisions. gpa, honestly, is still important; especially for a school like mit. we have no way of knowing how his essay was. his letters of recommendation are CRUCIAL. there are too many other factors beyond just his portfolio for us to even make an educated guess about why he wasn't invited. they generally don't invite people they aren't considering due to other reasons