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Two University of Missouri School of Music faculty members were recognized as winners at the 2026 Grammy Awards on February 1 in Los Angeles.
Stefan Freund and Bill Kalinkos are founding members of Alarm Will Sound, whose album Land of Winter won the Grammy for Best Chamber Music/Small Ensemble Performance. Alarm Will Sound is the ensemble-in-residence for the Mizzou New Music Initiative (MNMI).
Freund is a Professor of Music Composition, Co-founder and the Artistic Director of the Mizzou New Music Initiative, and Director of the Mizzou New Music Ensemble. Kalinkos teaches clarinet and co-directs the Mizzou Creative Improvisation Collective.
Alarm Will Sound is an internationally acclaimed new music ensemble of 20 musicians founded in 2001. For the past 16 years, Alarm Will Sound has also served as ensemble-in-residence for the annual Mizzou International Composers Festival (MICF) and is in residence at Mizzou each January. Since 2010, Alarm Will Sound has performed 150 resident composer premieres and 38 works by guest composers.
“Alarm Will Sound’s relationship with the Mizzou New Music Initiative, and especially the Mizzou International Composers Festival, has been central to who we are as an ensemble,” said Gavin Chuck, Executive Director of Alarm Will Sound. “MNMI’s sustained support of composers creates the rare conditions where composers and performers can truly work side-by-side with time, trust, and a shared spirit of exploration. Through MICF, we’ve had the opportunity to develop music in a deeply collaborative way, resulting in well over 100 new works and shaping how we listen, rehearse, and perform. That sense of partnership—of building something together over time—has had a lasting impact on Alarm Will Sound, and it’s reflected in the music we make and the risks we’re able to take.”
“This recognition belongs to our incredible musicians, composers, collaborators, and everyone who have supported our mission to push music forward,” said Freund. “The partnership with the Mizzou New Music Initiative has given Alarm Will Sound the opportunity to work with many great composers and raise its visibility nationally and globally. I have immense gratitude for everyone who poured imagination, care, and belief into bringing this music into the world. What a joy to celebrate it together.”
Land of Winter was written by Irish composer Donnacha Dennehy whose inspiration for the piece was the quality of light as the seasons change in his native land. Dennehy was an MICF guest composer twice – in 2012 and 2019. Alarm Will Sound read and workshopped Land of Winter at the 2022 MICF.
“Dr. Jeanne Cairns Sinquefield, who has generously invested in our programs, has a great saying: To have new music, you have to have composers. You have to have musicians. You have to have concerts. You have to have an audience,” Freund said. “Our work with all kinds of people at different skill levels makes Missouri relevant for new music. Through her generosity and support from the Sinquefield Charitable Foundation, we can offer these wonderful programs.”
The Mizzou New Music Initiative is a diverse array of programs that position the University of Missouri School of Music as a leading center for the composition and performance of new music. The initiative is supported by the Sinquefield Charitable Foundation, led by Dr. Jeanne and Rex Sinquefield. Their vision is to create an incubator for the composition and performance of new music and to showcase Missouri as a center for the music of tomorrow.
To stay up to date with all Mizzou New Music Initiative announcements, follow them on Instagram and Facebook: @MizzouNewMusic.