Today, let’s get acquainted with one of the resident composers for the 2012 Mizzou New Music Summer Festival, Stephanie Berg. She’s one of eight individuals to earn that designation this year, chosen from nearly 150 applicants from countries around the world, including Israel, France, Ireland, Spain, South Africa, Russia, England, Thailand, Canada and China.

As a Missouri native and Mizzou graduate, Berg (pictured) is something of a local favorite at this year’s Festival. She grew up in the Kansas City suburb of Parkville, graduating from Park Hill South High School, and earned her Bachelor of Music degree in clarinet performance from Mizzou in 2008. This May, she completed her Master’s degree in clarinet performance and composition at Mizzou.

Berg was the recipient of the 2009 Sinquefield Composition Prize, which resulted in the commissioned work Motive and Reflection for full orchestra. In 2011, she won the award in the “Young Artist” category of the Missouri State Division of Music Teachers National Association (MTNA) composition competition. She was recognized for her piece “Of Air Sweet and Water Deep,” composed in 2010 for the Mizzou New Music Ensemble and premiered at the Missouri Botanical Garden in St. Louis as part of a tribute to the Garden’s President Emeritus, Dr. Peter Raven.

In addition to her work as a composer, Berg has performed in the Mizzou New Music Ensemble, the University Philharmonic, and the Columbia Civic Orchestra, playing B flat, A, E flat, and bass clarinets. She also has served for three years as project manager for the Mizzou New Music Initiative’s Creating Original Music Program (C.O.M.P.), a statewide competition for young composers in Missouri elementary, middle and high schools.

Earlier this year, Berg was the subject of a feature story in the Columbia Daily Tribune, which you can see online here. You can hear her award-winning composition “Of Air Sweet and Water Deep” and her piece “Paper Guns,” created for the Contemporary Art Museum St. Louis’ Great Rivers Biennial 2010, in the embedded audio players below.