The American Wild Ensemble will perform in a concert presented by the Mizzou New Music Initiative at 7:30 p.m. Sunday, October 18 outside the Sinquefield Music Center on the University of Missouri campus in Columbia.

Titled “The American Aviatrix,” the program commemorates the centennial of the passage of the 19th Amendment by honoring the achievements of American women aviators. The concert will celebrate the lives of two of these groundbreaking women, pilots Bessie Coleman and Amelia Earhart, with world premiere performances of two new works, “Il n’y aura pas de regrets” by Mizzou assistant professor Carolina Heredia and “Livid Loneliness of Fear” by Ingrid Stölzel. The program also will include a performance of “Solitude of Self,” composed in 2018 by Caroline Malloneé.

Formed in 2016 with a commissioning project inspired by American national parks, the American Wild Ensemble  (pictured) celebrates American places, historic figures, and events by commissioning new works and performing them in site-inspired and site-specific locations. They have received support from organizations including the National Endowment for the Arts and Chamber Music America for performances in both traditional and nontraditional venues across the country.

The group is led by flutist Emlyn Johnson and cellist Daniel Ketter, who both are faculty members at Missouri State University in Springfield. The ensemble also includes Mizzou assistant professor Megan Arns on percussion; Bill Kalinkos on clarinet; Sarah Peters on violin; and soprano Ann-Marie Wilcox Daehn.

Admission to the American Wild Ensemble concert is free, but reservations are required, and concertgoers are asked to wear face coverings and maintain social distancing. Reservations can be made online at https://american-aviatrix.eventbrite.com.

There will be two seating options available: lawn seating and drive-in. With the ensemble set up in front of the north entrance of the Sinquefield Music Center, a limited number of socially distant seats will be available on the adjacent lawn. In addition, there will be a limited number of drive-in spaces available on the parking lot, where additional speakers will be set up and live video of the performance will be projected on the side of the building.