For the past four years, the Missouri Composers Orchestra Project (MOCOP) has been providing performance opportunities for new orchestral music written by Missouri residents. For its fifth year, MOCOP is expanding, both musically and geographically.
The 2016 competition will include both choral and orchestral works in five categories, three for Missouri composers and two added specifically for composers currently studying at schools in the Southeastern Conference (SEC).
MOCOP is a collaborative effort involving the Mizzou New Music Initiative, Columbia Civic Orchestra (pictured), and the Sinquefield Charitable Foundation.
Each year, recently composed works are selected through a competitive, blind judging process and are performed by the Columbia Civic Orchestra at a concert in Columbia. Each of the composers of the selected works is awarded a $500 honorarium, and this year, the composers selected from SEC schools also will receive travel expenses so they can attend the final rehearsal and concert.
New categories added for composers from SEC schools!
The categories for the 2016 MOCOP competition are Missouri Open – Orchestral; Missouri High School – Orchestral; Missouri High School – Choral; SEC Students – Orchestral; and SEC Students – Choral.
The CCO and the Columbia Chamber Choir will perform the selected works in a concert at 7:30 p.m. Sunday, March 20 at Broadway Christian Church, 2601 West Broadway in Columbia.
Composers who wish to submit their work to MOCOP can find details on eligibility and instrumentation plus complete application materials online at http://mizzounewmusic.missouri.edu/project.html.
Applications must be received no later than 5:00 p.m. Central time on Friday, December 11, 2015
The Columbia Civic Orchestra is a volunteer group located in Columbia, Missouri, dedicated to providing enjoyment for its members and audiences with the presentation and preservation of high-quality symphonic music.
The Columbia Chamber Choir in a subset of the Columbia Chorale, which works to promote choral music of the highest artistic quality and to stimulate a greater community understanding, appreciation, and enjoyment of choral music by presenting programs appealing to a wide cross-section of Missouri residents and visitors.