Here’s another in our series of brief profiles of the eight resident composers who will be part of the inaugural Mizzou New Music Summer Festival:

The music of Milwaukee native Christopher Dietz (pictured) has been recognized with honors and awards from the Camargo Foundation, the Banff Centre, Copland House, ASCAP’s Morton Gould Young Composer Awards, the Minnesota Orchestra Reading Sessions and Composer Institute and several other institutions.

Dietz earned a Ph.D. in Composition and Theory from the University of Michigan, as well as degrees from the Manhattan School of Music and the University of Wisconsin.  He currently is a visiting assistant professor at the Oberlin Conservatory in Oberlin, OH. Recent commissions include works for the Mellon Foundation, the Toledo Symphony and the Utah Arts Festival Orchestra.

His music also has been performed by the East Coast Contemporary Ensemble, L’Orchestre de la Francophonie Canadienne, the Palomar Ensemble, TACTUS Ensemble, and many others.

In addition to being part of the Mizzou New Music Summer Fesitval, Deitz this year also was selected to participate in the Etchings Festival of Contemporary Music in Auvillar, France, and in the Society of Composers Inc. National Conference this November.

There are a few sample recordings of Dietz’ music online. His work Gharra,  commissioned by the Utah Arts Festival Orchestra in 2007 and since performed by three more orchestras, can be heard online here (if you have Apple QuickTime).

Also, percussionist Matthew Peters has put online .mp3 files of his performances of two solo marimba pieces composed by Dietz, “King of the Logs” and “The Peters Variations.”  Lastly, a very short excerpt of Deitz’ piece “De Profundis,” composed for and recorded by the Toledo Clarinets, can be heard here.