The University of Missouri’s representative among this year’s group of resident composers at the Mizzou International Composers Festival is Douglas Osmun, who recently earned his M.M. in composition from Mizzou.
Originally from Zeeland, MI, Osmun previously received his bachelor’s degree in music from Western Michigan University, where he was named a Beulah and Harold McKee Scholar.
He is a composer of both acoustic and electronic music who describes his work as “deeply concerned with elements of sound embodiment, spatialization, and perception.” Osmun’s new work for the MICF is called “in effigies,” and it will be performed along with new music from the six other resident composers by resident ensemble Alarm Will Sound on Saturday, July 28 at the Missouri Theatre.
Osmun also recently has written works for SPLICE Ensemble and for the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra, which performed his composition “ghost. receding. (unto a shaded landscape)” along with music from fellow Mizzou students Aaron Mencher and Dustin Dunn this spring at Powell Hall as part of a year-long collaborative project involving SLSO and the Mizzou New Music Initiative.
In addition, his music has been heard at the BGSU Graduate Conference in Music, the SEAMUS National Conference, the Society of Composers Inc. National Conference, NYCEMF, the Big Sky Documentary Film Festival, and the St. Louis Science Center.
Osmun’s honors include the 2016 Sinquefield Composition Prize, the University of Missouri’s top award for a student composer, and the 2014 Ron Nelson Composition Award.
For more about Douglas Osmun, listen to his interview aired last week on KMUC’s “Mizzou Music” program, and read the feature story about him published in 2016 by the Columbia Missourian. You can hear some of his music via the embedded players below.
“spaces of an absent voice,” performed by Douglas Osmun
“Three Short Conversations,” recorded during the 2014 fresh inc festival at Bedford Concert Hall at University of Wisconsin-Parkside, and performed by The Magic Deuce, featuring Caitlin Phillips (flute) and Eric Salazar (clarinet)