Composers Festival spotlight: Thomas Dougherty

Resident composer Thomas Dougherty comes to the 2015 Mizzou International Composers Festival from Houston, TX, where he earned his master of music degree in composition from the Shepherd School of Music at Rice University and has served as composer and violinist for the Da Camera of Houston Young Artists Program. Very soon, though, he'll move…

Composers Festival spotlight: Justin Pounds

Resident composer Justin Pounds is the University of Missouri's representative at the 2015 Mizzou International Composers Festival, and along with Christopher Stark, one of two resident composers this year with ties to Missouri and St. Louis. A St. Louis native who grew up in the suburb of Oakville, Pounds earned his bachelor of music degree…

Composers Festival spotlight: Alessandro Ratoci

Alessandro Ratoci has the longest journey of any of this year's resident composers to get to the 2015 Mizzou International Composers Festival, coming to Columbia from Lausanne, Switzerland, where he teaches electronic music at the Haute Ecole de Musique de Genève (Geneva University of Music). Born in Tuscany, Italy, Ratoci majored in composition, piano, and…

Composers Festival spotlight: Christopher Stark

Christopher Stark is one of eight resident composers for the 2015 Mizzou International Composers Festival, and, along with Mizzou's Justin Pounds, one of two resident composers this year with ties to Missouri and the St. Louis area. Currently an assistant professor of composition at Washington University in St. Louis, Stark is a native of Polson,…

Composers Festival spotlight: Emily Koh

Resident composer Emily Koh comes to the 2015 Mizzou International Composers Festival by way of Singapore, her place of birth, and Boston, where she currently is a Ph.D. candidate in composition and theory at Brandeis University. A bassist as well as a composer, Koh also serves as a visiting faculty member at the Longy School…

Composers Festival spotlight: DRAX

Formed in fall 2014, DRAX is the newest faculty ensemble-in-residence at the University of Missouri, and they'll be making their Mizzou International Composers Festival debut as guest artists for the "Mizzou New Music" concert on Friday, July 24 at the Missouri Theatre. As the latest addition to the growing new music scene at Mizzou, the…

Composers Festival spotlight: Andrew Norman

Along with Hans Abrahamsen, the Mizzou New Music Initiative is pleased to welcome Andrew Norman as one of our two distinguished guest composers for the 2015 Mizzou International Composers Festival. Currently an assistant professor of composition at the University of Southern California's Thornton School of Music, Norman (pictured) is a graduate of Yale and the…

MICF on TV

Along with such familiar public TV fare as Charlie Rose and Great Performances, Missourians who tune into their local PBS affiliate over the next couple of weeks may see an ad for the Mizzou International Composers Festival. The :30 spot will run on KETC in St. Louis, KCPT in Kansas City, and KMOS in Jefferson…