The Columbia Civic Orchestra (CCO) and Premiere Vocal Artists, conducted by Jeremy Wagner, will perform the winning works from the 2024 Missouri Composers Project (MOCOP) competition in a concert at 7:30 p.m. Sunday, March 10 at Broadway Christian Church, 2601 W. Broadway in Columbia. Admission to the concert is free and open to the public.
Now in its twelfth year, MOCOP is a collaborative effort involving the Mizzou New Music Initiative, the Columbia Civic Orchestra, Premiere Vocal Artists and the Sinquefield Charitable Foundation. Composers from all over Missouri are invited each year to submit orchestral and choral works for potential performance, with winners selected by blind judging in two age categories: “open” and “high school.” In addition to the performance and a live recording of their work, all five winners of the competition receive a $500 honorarium from the Sinquefield Charitable Foundation.
Here are the 2024 MOCOP competition winners and the compositions that will be performed at the 7:30 p.m. March 10 concert:
Choral High School: Blue Marble by Alina Hayden (Augusta, MO)
Honorable mention:
Tomorrow Shines by Matthew Hilger (Lee’s Summit, MO)
Choral Open: Dreamlike Lyric by Yun Li (Kansas City, MO)
Honorable mentions:
The Door by Carter Datz (Lake St Louis, MO)
If I must go by Cory Brodack (St. Louis, MO)
Orchestral High School: Farewell by Matthew Kim (St. Louis, MO)
Honorable mentions:
Answering the Absurd by Yueheng Wang (Creve Coeur, MO)
Orchestral Open: It is, Isn’t It by Isaac Villaroya (Kansas City, MO)
Honorable mentions:
Beauty despite daylight by Oswald Huynh (Portland, OR, based in Columbia, MO at time of composition)
Piano Concerto No.1 by Seda Balci (Columbia, MO, originally from Turkey)
This year’s choral judges were Bonnie McLarty, Niko Schroeder, and Emily Edgington Andrews. The judges for the orchestral category were Jason Thorpe Buchanan, Sam Whitty, and Selena Ryan.
The Mizzou New Music Initiative brings together a diverse array of programs positioning the University of Missouri School of Music as a leading center for the creation and performance of new music. The Initiative is the direct result of the generous support of Dr. Jeanne and Mr. Rex Sinquefield and the Sinquefield Charitable Foundation. Read more about the Sinquefields’ support for the MU School of Music. https://newmusic.missouri.edu/about-us
The Columbia Civic Orchestra is a volunteer group located in Columbia, Missouri, dedicated to providing enjoyment for its members and audiences with the presentation and preservation of high-quality symphonic music.
Premiere Vocal Artists is an ensemble of the Choral Arts Alliance of Missouri, which works to promote choral music of the highest artistic quality and to stimulate a greater community understanding, appreciation, and enjoyment of choral music by presenting programs appealing to a wide cross-section of Missouri residents and visitors.