Clockwise from top left: Browne, Simon, Kouyoumdjian, figgis-vizueta, Chandler, LeBoeuf

Although the resident composers for the Mizzou International Composers Festival are with us here in Columbia for only a short time each summer, MNMI continues to follow the progress of their careers as the years pass. Congratulations to these MICF alumni on their recent accomplishments:

* Works originally written for the MICF by Matt Browne (MICF 2016) and Greg Simon (MICF 2013) won first and second prizes respectively in the “new classics” division of the 2020 International Competition of the Moscow Tchaikovsky Conservatory for young composers.

You can see a video of the conservatory’s orchestra performing Browne’s “Writer’s Room,” Simon’s “Draw Me The Sun” and the other competition winners on YouTube.

* Mary Kouyoumdjian (MICF 2016) and inti figgis-vizueta (MICF 2019) recently took part in a roundtable discussion called “Understanding Intersectionality: Gender and Other Identities” that was presented online by the new music publication I CARE IF YOU LISTEN and American Composers Forum as part of their “UNEVEN MEASURES” discussion series. They were joined on the panel by violinist Jennifer Koh, composer Melissa Dunphy, and facilitator Amanda Cook, the editor-in-chief of ICIYL.

* figgis-vizueta also recently was selected to be part of the composition faculty for the 2021 Sewanee WinterFest at the University of the South in Sewanee, TN

* Theo Chandler (MICF 2019) recently was awarded a residency at Copland House, the former home of composer Aaron Copland in Cortlandt Manor, NY. Chandler will have the opportunity to live and work in the home next year for several weeks, expenses paid, as will Pascal LeBoeuf (MICF 2020) who previously was announced as a resident in 2019, had to postpone his stay due to the pandemic shutdown, and will be rescheduled for the coming season.