Audio from the 2018 COMP Festival will stream live online on Saturday, April 13 at https://music.missouri.edu/concert-audio-streaming
The Mizzou New Music Initiative will present new works from Missouri’s best young composers at the 14th annual Creating Original Music Project (COMP) Festival from 11:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., Saturday, April 13 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 of this year’s competition, begins at 11:30 a.m., with the senior division concert of music by high school winners following at 3:30 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 University of Missouri’s Mizzou New Music Initiative and the Sinquefield Charitable Foundation, which provides an annual gift of $40,000 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 scholarships to attend the Missouri Summer Composition Institute, Mizzou’s high school summer music composition camp.
“The Creating Original Music Project competition and summer camp were the beginning of the Mizzou New Music Initiative, and the first steps toward making Missouri a center for musical composition,” said Jeanne Sinquefield of the Sinquefield Charitable Foundation. “Over the years, more than 220 young Missouri composers have won the K-12 composer competition, and though the Initiative now includes many different programs for collegiate and career composers, COMP still is a special and very important part of it.”
The 2019 Creating Original Music Project (COMP) competition categories and winners are:
Elementary School – Song with Words
1) Aiden Assel of Siegrist Elementary, Platte City, for “People Not Seeing Me.” Sponsor: Anna Burnett
2) Ben Zerega, Harrison Ringkor, and Brayden Fisk of Bristol Elementary, Webster Groves, for “Undefeated.” Sponsor: Sara Wichard
3) Annabel Merideth of Thomas W. Kelly Elementary, Benton, for “The Mountain.” Sponsor: Heather DiStefano
Elementary School – Instrumental
1) Benjamin Stoker of Crossroads Academy- Quality Hill, Kansas City, for “Tough Times.” Sponsor: Anna Arnold
2) Kate Bresler of Rogers Elementary, St. Louis, for “A Dark Winter.” Sponsor: Donna Buehne
3) Ethan King of Thomas W. Kelly Elementary, Benton for “Downfall.” Sponsor: Heather DiStefano
Middle School – Fine Art
1) Claire Li of Gentry Middle School, Columbia, for “Little Creek.” Sponsor: Amber Quest
2 (tie) Eli Minasian, a home-schooled student from Springfield, for “Through the Eye of the Hurricane.” Sponsor: Reese Ancheta-Minasian
and
Yueheng Wang of Parkway Central Middle School, Chesterfield, for “Wading in Water.” Sponsor: Sue Chiu
Middle School – Popular
1) Stone Gill of Arcadia Valley Middle School, Ironton, for “Wonder What It’s Like.” Sponsor: Charles Lee
2) Holly Travers & Grace Ensor of Hixson Middle School, Webster Groves, for “Stuck on the Verge of Glory.” Sponsor: Emily Tokos
3) Lucy Gray Hamilton of Eugene Field Elementary, St. Joseph, for “Back to You.” Sponsor: Janell Becerra
High School – Fine Art
1) Brandon Kim of Rock Bridge High School, Columbia, for “Diabolical Dances.” Sponsor: Alison Schmidt
2) Olivia Bennett, a home-schooled student from Nixa, for “Three Cryptics.” Sponsor: Carlyle Sharpe
3) Thomas Whitty of Staley High School, Kansas City, for “Chicago in F Major.” Sponsor: Carrie Shuck
High School – Popular
1) Katherine Vlamis of Liberty High School, Liberty, for “Lighthouse.” Sponsor: Rika Heruth
2) Jordin MacKenzie of Blue Valley North High School, Overland Park, for “Just Like the Rain.” Sponsor: Jason Sickel
3) Cooper Carr of Lee’s Summit West High School, Lee’s Summit, for “Waves of Distortion.” Sponsor: Shawn Harrell
High School – Jazz
1) Samuel Luetkemeyer of Calvary Lutheran High School, Jefferson City, for “Dichotomy.” Sponsor: Paul Hinman
2) Adam Routt of Timberland High School, Wentzville, for “Rad World.” Sponsor: Ronda Fields
3) Hyunjae Justin Hahm of Rock Bridge High School, Columbia, for “Dreary at 5 in the Morning.” Sponsor: Patrick Sullivan
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.