Tickets for the 2018 Mizzou International Composers Festival (MICF) will go on sale at 10:00 a.m. CDT on Friday, May 25.
Recognized as an important regional showcase for new works by top young composers, the MICF will take place this year from Monday, July 23 through Saturday, July 28 in Columbia, and will include three public concerts.
Returning for the ninth year as the festival’s resident ensemble, Alarm Will Sound will begin the weekend of shows at 7:30 p.m. Thursday, July 26 at the Missouri Theatre, 203 S. Ninth St. in downtown Columbia.
They’ll perform music from the 2018 MICF’s distinguished guest composers, Chen Yi and Alex Mincek, as well as a work by Mizzou’s Stefan Freund and more.
The following evening, the “Mizzou New Music” concert at 7:30 p.m., Friday, July 27 at the Missouri Theatre will feature the Mizzou New Music Ensemble performing works by Chen and Mincek, plus the Missouri Clarinet Quartet playing new music by Stefan Freund, Carolina Heredia, and Aaron Mencher.
The grand finale of the week will showcase the world premieres of seven new works written by the festival’s resident composers and performed by Alarm Will Sound at 7:30 p.m., Saturday, July 28 at the Missouri Theatre.
Festival VIP packages are $80, and include reserved premium seating at all three concerts; two drink tickets good at the Thursday and Friday performances; and admission to a VIP reception prior to the Saturday evening performance, featuring champagne and hors d’oeuvres with members of Alarm Will Sound and the composers.
Festival passes for all three concerts are $40 for an adult general admission pass, and $20 for a student general admission pass.
Single tickets are priced at $18 for adults, $10 for students, and are all general admission. Tickets can be charged by phone using Visa, MasterCard or Discover by calling 1-573-882-3781. To buy tickets online, visit http://composersfestival.missouri.edu/.
The MICF also offers a special limited-time discount for early ticket buyers. If you purchase tickets before June 3 and use the promotional code, you can get single adult tickets for any MICF concert for just $10 each (regular price $18), while student tickets are discounted to $7 (from $10).
To get the discount, use “2018MICF” (without quotes) when prompted for a promotional code. This offer is good only on tickets purchased between May 25 and June 3, 2018.
In addition to these three concerts, the MICF also will feature several free events, including open rehearsals and presentations by the participating composers. A complete schedule of those events will be released at a later date.
The seven resident composers were chosen from among more than 240 applicants from 22 different countries to participate in the festival and create a new work for Alarm Will Sound. Listed with their current places of residence, they are:
* Oren Boneh, Berkeley, CA
* Christine Burke, Iowa City, IA
* Viet Cuong, Philadelphia, PA
* Amanda Feery, Princeton, NJ
* Douglas Osmun, Columbia, MO
* Gemma Peacocke, Princeton, NJ
* Igor Santos, Chicago, IL
An eighth resident composer, Peter Shin, was announced as part of the group in December 2017, but had to postpone his participation due to scheduling conflicts. “At the same time that Peter was selected for the MICF, he also received a commission to write a new work for the Los Angeles Philharmonic,” said Stefan Freund, professor of composition and artistic director of the Mizzou New Music Initiative. “When it became apparent that he could not complete both pieces in time, we extended an invitation to him to be part of our 2019 festival, and we look forward to working with him next year.”
During the festival, the resident composers will receive composition lessons from distinguished guest composers Chen Yi, who is a distinguished professor of composition at the Conservatory of Music and Dance at the University of Missouri-Kansas City; and Alex Mincek, an assistant professor, composition and music technology at Northwestern University’s Bienen School of Music and a co-founder and artistic director of the Wet Ink Ensemble.
The resident composers also will take part in rehearsals with Alarm Will Sound; give presentations on their music; and receive a premiere performance and professional live recording of their work.