Some of the winners at the 2016 COMP Festival
Whether heard on a concert stage or in a theater, on film or TV, or in a video game or app, every piece of music starts with a composer – and every young composer needs a start.
That’s why Mizzou’s Creating Original Music Project (COMP) will present performances of award-winning original works by young Missouri composers at the twelfth annual COMP Festival, held from 10:30 a.m. to 4:00 p.m., Saturday, April 15 in the Fine Arts Building on the campus of the University of Missouri.
Admission is free and open to the public. The junior division concert, featuring works from elementary and middle school winners, begins at 10:30 a.m., with the senior division concert of music by high school winners following at 2:30 p.m.
The festival also will be streamed live online at https://music.missouri.edu/concert-audio-streaming, with the audio stream going live 10 minutes before the start of each concert.
COMP was founded in 2005 to encourage K-12 students in Missouri to write original music and to provide performance opportunities for those works. It is a joint venture of the Mizzou New Music Initiative and the Sinquefield Charitable Foundation, which provides an annual gift of $80,000 to sponsor the competition.
Every year, in addition to having their music performed at the COMP Festival, the winning composers in each age group and category and their schools receive cash prizes. High school winners also receive a scholarship to attend the Missouri Summer Composition Institute, Mizzou’s high school summer music composition camp.
“The Mizzou New Music Initiative began with the Creating Original Music Project competition and summer camp, and COMP still is fundamental to our efforts to help composers of all ages grow and develop,” said Jeanne Sinquefield of the Sinquefield Charitable Foundation. “Hundreds of Missouri students have enjoyed opportunities from these programs over the last 12 years, and it’s encouraging to see both repeat winners and first-time entrants among this year’s group of winning young composers.”
The 2017 Creating Original Music Project (COMP) competition categories and winners are:
Elementary School – Song with Words
1) Brooke Noelle Eck of Woerther Elementary School, Ballwin, for “Full Blown Storm.” Sponsor: Rachel Puleo.
2) Jackson Smith of Our Lady of Lourdes Interparish School, Columbia, for “Pokémon.” Sponsor: Sarah Nolke.
3) Landon Irvin of Reeds Spring Elementary School, Reeds Spring, for “Game of Life.” Sponsor: Susan Gillen.
Elementary School – Instrumental
1) Yueheng Wang of Ulysses S. Grant Elementary School, Columbia, for “Echoing in the Sky.” Sponsor: Pam Sisson.
2) Natalie Johnson of Rogers Elementary School, St. Louis, for “Winter Snow.” Sponsor: Donna Buehne.
3) Stone Gill of Arcadia Valley Middle School, Ironton, for “Grab a Mic.” Sponsor: Chuck Lee.
Middle School – Fine Art
1) Brandon Kim of Jefferson Middle School, Columbia, for “The Quarrel.” Sponsor: Jaime Canepa.
2) Ammar Farra of Smithton Middle School, Columbia, for “Brass Trio in C Minor.” Sponsor: Emily Ebrecht.
Middle School – Popular
1) Grace Ensor, Holly Travers, Posey Bischoff, and Katie Downey of Steger Sixth Grade Center, Rock Hill, for “The Path of Life.” Sponsor: Kevin Cole.
2) Elsa Kelley-Marcum of Jefferson Middle School, Columbia, for “Deal with the Devil.” Sponsor: Christine Nichols.
High School – Fine Art
1) Brandon Thibodeau of Kearney High School, Kearney, for “Kaleidoscope.” Sponsor: Chris Heil.
2) Olivia Bennett, a home-schooled student from Nixa, for “The Hare.” Sponsor: Gabe Fleetwood.
3) Cheyenne Stumpf of Cuba High School, Cuba, for “Ki Bhavi Ragini.” Sponsor: Shannon Moore.
High School – Popular
1) Cooper Carr of Lee’s Summit West High School, Lee’s Summit, for “I See You.” Sponsor: Kirt Mosier.
2) Julia Riew of John Burroughs School, St. Louis, for “No More.” Sponsor: Robert Carter.
3) Menea Kefalov of Ladue Horton Watkins High School, Ladue, for “Storm.” Sponsor: Twinda Murry.
High School – Jazz
1) Jack Snelling of Webster Groves High School, Webster Groves, for “Lovesick.” Sponsor: Kevin Cole.
2) Samuel Luetkemeyer of Calvary Lutheran High School, Jefferson City, for “Playin’ Hooky.” Sponsors: Melisa Ahlers and Calee Gerth.
Each student who enters the competition must have the signature and sponsorship of his or her school’s music teacher. Community agencies, churches, after-school programs, private teachers, and other musical mentors also may sponsor their young musicians in partnership with the student’s school music teacher.