The University of Missouri School of Music and the Mizzou New Music Initiative have awarded the 2019 Sinquefield Composition Prize to Niko Schroeder.

Schroeder (pictured) is in his first year of study for a master’s degree in composition at Mizzou. He submitted “genealogy I,” a work written for piano, violin, and cello, to the competition and was selected for the prize by a panel of independent judges.

The adjudicators for the 2019 competition were Emily Koh, assistant professor of composition at the University of Georgia; Sky Macklay, assistant professor of music at Valparaiso University; and David Werfelmann, assistant professor of music theory and composition at Webster University.

Now in its 14th year, the Sinquefield Composition Prize is the top award for a composition student at Mizzou.

As this year’s winner, Schroeder now will be commissioned to write an original work for the University Philharmonic Orchestra, directed by Barry Ford, which will premiere it as part of the Chancellor’s Arts Showcase on Monday, April 8, 2019 at the Missouri Theatre in Columbia. With the commission, Schroeder also receives a cash prize for the production of the score and parts, and will have his work professionally recorded.

Originally from Waverly, IA, Schroeder earned his bachelor of arts degree from Grand Valley State University in Allendale, MI.

While he was a student there, he served as sound engineer and student manager for the Grand Valley State University New Music Ensemble and won several awards, including “Composer of the Year” for the 2015-16 and 2016-17 school years; the 2017 Concerto Competition; and the Glenn A. Niemeyer Award, the highest distinction for student contributions to the university.

A performer as well as a composer and engineer, Schroeder has toured with rock and contemporary classical ensembles and regularly performs with his polka band, the Bierkeller Boys.

The other finalists for the 2019 Sinquefield Composition Prize were Dustin Dunn and Ben Rouder.