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Mizzou New Music Initiative Artistic Director Stefan Freund joined the American Wild Ensemble for a performance of his piece The Three Robbers on Wednesday, June 24, at the University of Missouri – Kansas City.
Freund’s piece was part of AWE’s 10th anniversary concert, which also included works by Michael-Thomas Foumai, Takuma Itoh, and Chris Stark, all of whom have been Resident Composers at the Mizzou International Composers Festival.
The performance continued the decade-long collaborations between the American Wild Ensemble and MNMI, the highlights of which included a fall 2020 performance at Mizzou and a concert at the World Chess Hall of Fame in St. Louis. AWE directors Emlyn Johnson (flute) and Dan Ketter (cello) recently performed as part of this year’s Missouri Summer Composition Institute.
Freund’s The Three Robbers is based on the 1961 children’s book of the same name by Tomi Ungerer. It was premiered by AWE in June 2025 at Kansas City’s The Rabbit hOle, a museum dedicated to the art of children’s literature. Elements of the work were incorporated into the museum’s Three Robbers immersive experience, which is still running.
“It was a wonderful opportunity to perform with the American Wild Ensemble again and to be a part of the UMKC Conservatory Composition Symposium,” Freund said.
The UMKC performance of The Three Robbers can be found here.
A video about the making of The Rabbit hOle’s The Three Robbers immersive experience, which includes some of Freund’s music, can be found here.
Previous coverage of the installation can be found here and here.
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