The Mizzou New Music Initiative will present the American Wild Ensemble performing “The American Aviatrix” in a free online concert at 7:00 p.m. Thursday, December 10.

The program commemorates the centennial of the passage of the 19th Amendment by honoring the achievements of American women aviators. It 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 concert also will include a performance of “Solitude of Self,” composed in 2018 by Caroline Mallonee.

As part of the online event, viewers also will be able to see interviews with the composers before each work is performed, as well as an online discussion including the composers and performers following the concert.

The entire program will be available to view on the University of Missouri School of Music’s YouTube channel, the American Wild Ensemble’s YouTube channel, and the Facebook pages of Mizzou New Music and the American Wild Ensemble.

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 mezzo-soprano Ann Marie Wilcox-Daehn.

“The American Aviatrix” is generously funded by Mid-America Arts Alliance, the National Endowment for the Arts, and the state arts agencies of Arkansas, Kansas, Missouri, Nebraska, Oklahoma, and Texas.