The Mizzou New Music Initiative and the University of Missouri School of Music have awarded a postdoctoral fellowship to composer Carolina Heredia.
Starting with the Fall 2017 semester and continuing for two years, Heredia (pictured) will teach private composition lessons to Mizzou students; assist with various MNMI programs; and work on interdisciplinary collaborative projects, initiating and supervising student efforts and also completing a major research project herself.
As MNMI’s second postdoctoral fellow, Heredia succeeds Phillip Sink, who is leaving Mizzou for a tenure-track job as assistant professor of theory and composition at Northern Illinois University.
Before beginning her fellowship, Heredia will have a chance to get acquainted with her new home as one of the eight resident composers for this year’s Mizzou International Composers Festival, a position for which she applied and was accepted last year.
“We were very impressed with Carolina’s work when we reviewed her application for the Mizzou International Composers Festival,” said Stefan Freund, professor of composition and artistic director of MNMI. “The festival is a catalyst for all sorts of opportunities, and in this case, it led to a connection with a composer and teacher who is going to be a great addition to our program.”
“Carolina’s interest in interdisciplinary projects was particularly attractive to us, and potentially could strengthen our ties with the university’s art and theater departments and the College of Arts and Science’s new digital storytelling program,” said Julia Gaines, director/associate professor of percussion and director of the School of Music. “We’re delighted to have her as part of the Mizzou New Music Initiative.“
Born in Córdoba, Argentina, Heredia comes to Mizzou from the University of Michigan, where she has just completed her doctorate in musical arts, studying with Michael Daugherty, Evan Chambers, Kristin Kuster, and Erik Santos.
While at Michigan, she also taught electronic music as a graduate student instructor and founded the Khemia Ensemble, a contemporary music group dedicated to creating innovative concert experiences involving interactive technology.
Previously, she earned her bachelor’s degree in music composition from the Universidad and Nacional de Villa María, and a bachelor’s degree in violin from the Conservatorio Superior Félix Garzón, both in Argentina; and a master’s degree in music composition from the University of Michigan.
Her compositions have been commissioned and performed in the United States and South America by musicians and ensembles including JACK Quartet, Derek Bermel, Aspen Contemporary Ensemble, Duo Cortona, and the Argentinean Cordoba State String Orchestra, and featured at events such as the SONIC Festival NYC, Aspen Music Festival and School, Bowling Green New Music Festival, TIES Toronto International Electroacoustic Festival, SEAMUS, the Cordoba Composition Biennial, and more.
Heredia’s honors and fellowships include a 2015 commission from the Fromm Music Foundation at Harvard University; the 2015 fellowship from the Susan and Ford Schumman Center for Composition Studies at the Aspen Music Festival; the Brehm Prize in Choral Composition (2015); the 2015 International Research Grant from the University of Michigan; the Margaret Dow Towsley Scholarship (2012); the Merit Scholarship from the University of Michigan (2011); and the Dorothy Greenwald Scholarship (2011).