In a year of unprecedented challenges for students, teachers, and parents, Missouri’s young composers in grades K – 12 once again have produced a wide variety of creative expressions in sound for the Mizzou New Music Initiative’s 16th annual Creating Original Music Project (COMP) Festival.
This year’s COMP Festival showcasing the best of those compositions will take place online, beginning at 10:30 a.m. Saturday, April 24 on the University of Missouri School of Music’s YouTube channel and the Mizzou New Music Facebook page.
The junior division concert, featuring works from elementary and middle school winners of this year’s competition, begins at 10:30 a.m., with the senior division concert of music by high school winners following at 3:00 p.m.
The online stream, which will be free and open to the public, will feature a mix of performances on video, including some COMP winners performing their own compositions, as well as performances by Mizzou students of other winning works.
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 work of these students under difficult conditions this past year shows that creativity is an unstoppable force,” said Jeanne Sinquefield of the Sinquefield Charitable Foundation. “We are delighted to be able to support and promote the state’s youngest composers through the Creating Original Music Project, as we have for the past 15 years, and we look forward to continuing for many years to come.”
The 2021 Creating Original Music Project (COMP) competition categories and winners are:
Elementary School – Song with Words
1) Lacie Reetz of Williamsburg Elementary in Williamsburg for “The Lion Song.” Sponsor: Sherry Reetz
2) Hannah Reetz of Williamsburg Elementary in Williamsburg for “The Thunderbird.” Sponsor: Sherry Reetz
3) Benjamin Stoker of Crossroads Academy – Quality Hill in Kansas City for “Aria for Nyx.” Sponsor: Erika Williams
Elementary School – Instrumental
1) Conrad Crutchley, a home-schooled student from Fenton, for “Infiltration.” Sponsor: Cynthia Graeler
2) Ian Lundholm of Siegrist Elementary in Platte City for “Endless.” Sponsor: Anna Burnett
Middle School – Fine Art
1) Yueheng Wang of Ladue Middle School in Ladue for “Lingering Reflection.” Sponsor: David Werfelmann
2) Samir Shaik of Parkway West Middle School in Chesterfield for “Le Hébétement.” Sponsor: Patricia Nemish
3) Hannah Wolkowitz of Parkway Central Middle School in Chesterfield for “Locked.” Sponsor: Chris Higgins
Middle School – Pop Music
1) Faye Boland of West Middle School in Columbia for “Maybe It’s.” Sponsor: Violet Vander Haar
2) Jocelin Murray of North Kirkwood Middle School in Kirkwood for “Tide.” Sponsor: Leah Luciano
3) Violet Martin of North Callaway Middle School in Auxvasse for “What I Did.” Sponsor: Sherry Reetz
High School – Fine Art
1) Brady Perkins of Ozark High School in Ozark for “Dance in G for Woodwind Octet.” Sponsor: Tom Meyer
2) Brandon Kim of Rock Bridge High School in Columbia for “2020.” Sponsor: Alison Lankheit
3) David McCaulley of Carl Junction High School in Carl Junction for “Brass ‘n’ Gas.” Sponsor: Trey Wadell
High School – Electronic Pop Music
1) Jordin MacKenzie of Blue Valley North High School in Overland Park for “’96 DiCaprio.” Sponsor: Daniel Freeman
2) Stone Gill of Arcadia Valley High School in Ironton for “The Moon.” Sponsor: Charles Lee
3) Thomas Libbert of Fatima High School in Westphalia for “Moon Water.” Sponsor: Zack Fincher
High School – Instrumental/Acoustic Pop Music
1) Ovya Diwakaran of Ladue Horton Watkins High School in Ladue for “Cards Are Dealt.” Sponsor: Stephen Howard
2) Rylee Spencer of Capital City High School in Jefferson City for “The Color of You.” Sponsor: Ken Kehner
3) Kaiden Doebelin of Mexico High School in Mexico for “Dear Molly.” Sponsor: David Reetz
(The categories of High School – Electronic Pop Music and High School – Instrumental/Acoustic Pop Music were created by judges to replace the categories High School – Pop Music and High School – Jazz so as to better reflect this year’s entries and allow more students a chance to participate.)
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.