Jan. 18, 2016
Mizzou International Composers Festival announces resident composers for 2016
The Mizzou New Music Initiative (MNMI) has selected eight resident composers to participate in the 2016 Mizzou International Composers Festival (MICF). Presented annually since 2010 by MNMI and the University of Missouri School of Music, the MICF in just six years has become the Midwest’s top summer showcase for intriguing new music by composers from around the world. The seventh edition of the festival, scheduled for Monday, July 25 through Saturday, July 30 in Columbia, will feature world premieres of eight new works written by this year’s selected composers. Listed with their current places of residence, they…
Jan. 8, 2016
Hear new music from the Mizzou International Composers Festival
As we anticipate the announcement later this month of the eight resident composers for the 2016 Mizzou International Composers Festival, the interval also provides an opportunity for MNMI to share for the first time some music from the 2015 MICF. For starters, you can use the embedded audio player below to stream “virgin soil,” which was written by 2015 resident composer Conrad Winslow (pictured, upper left) and given a world premiere performance by Alarm Will Sound as part of the grand finale of last summer’s MICF: And here’s Alarm Will Sound performing the world…
Dec. 23, 2015
2016 Mizzou International Composers Festival
gets applications from 18 countries
The numbers have been tallied, and the 2016 Mizzou International Composers Festival (MICF) has received submissions from a total of 229 individuals hoping to be among the fest’s eight resident composers, including 129 who applied for the first time. The 2016 MICF will take place from Monday, July 25 through Saturday, July 30 in Columbia. Resident composer submissions were received from a total of 18 different countries, including Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, Colombia, Czech Republic, France, Germany, Greece, Israel, Italy, Japan, Singapore, South Korea, Spain, Sweden, the United Kingdom, and the United States. Each resident…
Nov. 9, 2015
Erin Gee to serve as distinguished guest composer
for 2016 Mizzou International Composers Festival
The Mizzou New Music Initiative announced today that Erin Gee will be a distinguished guest composer at the 2016 Mizzou International Composers Festival (MICF), scheduled for Monday, July 25 through Saturday, July 30 on the campus of the University of Missouri in Columbia. Currently an assistant professor of music at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, Gee (pictured) is known for her series of compositions entitled “Mouthpieces,” which “use non-traditional vocal techniques, devoid of semantic language, to construct intricate and subtle patterns of a diverse array of vocal sounds.” Her works are taught in the composition and musicology…
Sep. 24, 2015
2016 Mizzou International Composers Festival set for July 25 – 30;
applications for eight resident composers now open
The Mizzou New Music Initiative is now accepting applications for eight resident composers to take part in the 2016 Mizzou International Composers Festival (MICF), which will be held Monday, July 25 through Saturday, July 30 on the campus of the University of Missouri in Columbia. British/American composer Oscar Bettison (pictured) will serve as one of the MICF’s two distinguished guest composers, teaching and consulting with the resident composers and ensemble. The second distinguished guest composer will be announced at a later date. The MICF features three public concerts of music from contemporary composers, as well…
July 21, 2015
Composers Festival spotlight: New Muse Piano Duo
The New Muse Piano Duo is another relatively recent addition to the University of Missouri’s ensembles in residence, and will be making their Mizzou International Composers Festival debut this year as part of Friday’s “Mizzou New Music” concert. Individually, Paola Savvidou serves as assistant professor of piano pedagogy at Mizzou, while Jonathan Kuuskoski is an assistant teaching professor and director of entrepreneurship and community programs. Savvidou received her undergraduate degree from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro and earned MM and DMA degrees in piano performance and pedagogy from the University of…
July 19, 2015
Composers Festival spotlight: Andrew McManus
A native of Massachusetts, 2015 MICF resident composer Andrew McManus currently lives in Chicago, where he earned his PhD at the University of Chicago, studying with Marta Ptaszynska, Augusta Read Thomas, Shulamit Ran and Howard Sandroff. He also holds degrees from the Eastman School of Music and Yale University. The work McManus has composed for Alarm Will Sound to play at the festival is called “embers, fused to ash,” and you can read some of his thoughts about it and see a bit of the score here. McManus’ acoustic works have been performed by the…
July 17, 2015
Composers Festival spotlight: Conrad Winslow
Even before coming to Columbia for the 2015 Mizzou International Composers Festival, resident composer Conrad Winslow has been all over these United States. As his professional bio puts it, “Extended childhood road-trips through the continental United States and a residential stint in Hawaii have taught him to look wide.” Raised in Homer, Alaska and now based in Brooklyn, Winslow earned his undergraduate degree in music from Rollins College in Winter Park, Florida. He subsequently moved to the Northeast, earning an M.M. degree in film scoring from New York University and a master’s degree in composition…