The University of Missouri’s Ben Colagiovanni is the national winner of the “Young Artist” award in this year’s Music Teachers National Association (MTNA) composition competition.

Colagiovanni (pictured) currently is a senior at Mizzou pursuing a bachelor’s degree in music composition. He was recognized for “Forest Park Rhapsody,” one of four works originally commissioned in 2014 by the Sinquefield Charitable Foundation for the Mizzou New Music Ensemble to perform at an event for Forest Park Forever’s Leffingwell Society.

As a winner of the competition, Colagiovanni will receive a first place prize of $3,000, and “Forest Park Rhapsody” will be performed at the 2016 MTNA National Conference, which takes place April 2 through April 6 in San Antonio, TX.

A native of St. Louis and graduate of Clayton High School, Colagiovanni was a two-time winner in Mizzou’s statewide Creating Original Music Project (COMP) before enrolling at the university with a full-tuition Sinquefield Scholarship to study composition.

The Music Teachers National Association was founded in 1876 to advance the value of music study and music-making to society while supporting the careers and professionalism of teachers of music. The organization currently has nearly 22,000 members and more than 500 local affiliates in 50 states, and each year conducts several different competitions for student musicians and composers.