July 8, 2021
Composers Festival spotlight: Paul Mortilla
When Paul Mortilla began his studies at Indiana University’s Jacobs School of Music in 2014, he already had more experience and training as a composer than most undergraduates. That’s because Mortilla, a Florida native who is one of nine resident composers for the 2021 Mizzou International Composers Festival, actually began writing original music on his own at the precocious age of 11, drawing on a eclectic variety of influences ranging from church hymns to electronic dance music. A couple of years later, he began studying formally with faculty members from the University of Miami’s Frost School of Music. Mortilla…
July 7, 2021
Composers Festival spotlight: Yu Kuwabara
The music of composer Yu Kuwabara explores connections between the personal and the traditional, the past and the present, and Japan and the rest of the world. One of the nine resident composers for the 2021 Mizzou International Composers Festival, Kuwabara (pictured) is from Tokyo, and completed her master’s degree at Tokyo University of the Arts (TUA). She now is a lecturer at Senzoku Gakuen College of Music, and also teaches composition courses to children for the Yamaha Music Foundation. For several years, she has been researching and learning traditional Japanese music and arts. Toward that end,…
July 6, 2021
Composers Festival spotlight: Ana Paola Santillán Alcocer
Resident composer Ana Paola Santillán Alcocer comes to the 2021 Mizzou International Composers Festival from Mexico City, Mexico. She earned her doctoral degree in composition from McGill University in Montreal, Canada, where she was composer-in-residence for the McGill Contemporary Music Ensemble and also worked with electronic media at the McGill Digital Composition Studios. Previously, she earned her Master of Music degree from Rice University and received her LTCL Licentiate in music composition from Trinity College London. Alcocer (pictured) enjoys exploring multimedia and visual arts elements, adopting abstract and/or narrative components in order to combine…
June 14, 2021
Mizzou International Composers Festival to return
July 26-31 with nine world premieres and more
After a year in which the COVID-19 pandemic forced last-minute changes in programming, the Mizzou International Composers Festival (MICF) is back in 2021 in a more familiar form. Presented Monday, July 26 through Saturday, July 31 by the Mizzou New Music Initiative (MNMI) and the University of Missouri School of Music, the twelfth annual MICF will showcase the world premieres of new works from nine resident composers and more, with all four concerts streamed online for free. The schedule of performances is: Tuesday, July 27: “World Premieres I,” featuring resident ensemble Alarm Will Sound performing…
Jan. 28, 2021
Mizzou International Composers Festival announces resident composers for 2021
Clockwise from top left: Ana Paola Santillán Alcocer, Daniel Fitzpatrick, Paul Mortilla & Nina Shekhar The Mizzou New Music Initiative (MNMI) has selected four resident composers to participate in the 2021 Mizzou International Composers Festival (MICF). Presented by MNMI and the University of Missouri School of Music from Monday, July 26 through Saturday, July 31 in Columbia, the twelfth annual MICF will feature world premieres of new works written by each of the selected composers. Listed with their current places of residence, they are: * Ana Paola Santillán Alcocer – Mexico City, Mexico * Daniel Fitzpatrick –…
Dec. 4, 2020
MICF alumni in the news
Clockwise from top left: Browne, Simon, Kouyoumdjian, figgis-vizueta, Chandler, LeBoeuf Although the resident composers for the Mizzou International Composers Festival are with us here in Columbia for only a short time each summer, MNMI continues to follow the progress of their careers as the years pass. Congratulations to these MICF alumni on their recent accomplishments: * Works originally written for the MICF by Matt Browne (MICF 2016) and Greg Simon (MICF 2013) won first and second prizes respectively in the “new classics” division of the 2020 International Competition of the Moscow Tchaikovsky Conservatory for young composers. You…
Nov. 24, 2020
2021 Mizzou International Composers Festival
gets submissions from around the world
A total of 300 composers from around the world have applied for the four resident composer spots at the 2021 Mizzou International Composers Festival. Submissions were received from 24 different countries, including Argentina, Australia, Austria, Brazil, Canada, China, Cyprus, Denmark, France, Germany, Greece, Italy, Japan, Mexico, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Poland, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Korea, Spain, Switzerland, the United Kingdom, and the United States. The 2021 MICF will be held Monday, July 26 through Saturday, July 31, and will feature Chen Yi and David T. Little as distinguished guest composers and Alarm Will Sound as resident…
Oct. 8, 2020
Mizzou International Composers Festival set for July 26 – 31, 2021;
applications for resident composers now open
The Mizzou New Music Initiative is accepting applications for resident composers to take part in the 2021 Mizzou International Composers Festival (MICF), which will take place starting Monday, July 26 through Saturday, July 31. Reprising their roles from the online-only 2020 edition of the MICF, Chen Yi and David T. Little (pictured) will serve as the festival’s two distinguished guest composers for 2021, teaching and consulting with the resident composers and ensemble. Little also has written a new commissioned work specifically for the festival. The week-long MICF will feature concerts of music from contemporary composers, along with…