July 14, 2014
Composers Festival Spotlight: Michael Schacter
Michael SchachterMichael Schacter is one of eight resident composers at the 2014 Mizzou International Composers Festival, and comes to Columbia from Ann Arbor, MI, where he currently is working towards a Ph.D. in music theory and composition at the University of Michigan. Originally from Massachusetts and an enthusiastic Red Sox fan, Michael is a pianist as well as a composer whose music draws from “an eclectic brew of influences including jazz and New Orleans, Renaissance polyphony, Jewish liturgy and klezmer, and South Indian classical music.” He earned his BA in 2009 from Harvard, where he directed…
July 9, 2014
Zhou Long to serve as guest composer
for 2014 Mizzou International Composers Festival;
Beat Furrer unable to attend for medical reasons
The Mizzou New Music Initiative announced today that Swiss composer Beat Furrer, who had been scheduled to be one of the guest composers later this month at the 2014 Mizzou International Composers Festival, will be unable to attend the festival due to medical reasons. In place of Furrer, Pulitzer Prize-winning composer Zhou Long, Distinguished Professor of Music at the University of Missouri-Kansas City Conservatory of Music and Dance, has agreed to serve as a guest composer for the 2014 MICF. “We regret that Beat Furrer won’t be able to participate in this year’s festival, as his doctor has…
July 8, 2014
Composers Festival Spotlight: Alarm Will Sound
Alarm Will Sound It’s been a busy year for Alarm Will Sound since the last Mizzou International Composers Festival. For starters, the MICF’s resident ensemble (pictured) recently completed a year-long residency at New York City’s Metropolitan Museum of Art, performing there four times during the 2013-14 presenting season. The concerts at the Met included “Permanent Collection,” revisiting key works written for the sinfonietta throughout musical history, in October; an all-Steve Reich program in November; a collaboration with Dance Heginbotham in February; and “I Was Here I Was I,” a music and theater piece composed by Kate…
July 7, 2014
If you’re coming to Columbia…
If you’re planning coming to Columbia for the 2014 Mizzou International Composers Festival, you can get advance tickets online for all three concerts, which will be presented again this year at the Missouri Theatre: Thursday, July 24: Alarm Will Sound Friday, July 25: Mizzou New Music Saturday, July 26: Eight World Premieres Also, you may find these links useful for planning and/or during your visit: Visitors information Columbia Convention and Visitors Bureau University of Missouri Visitors Guide Columbia Regional Airport Vox Magazine’s guide to…
May 27, 2014
Tickets now on sale for 2014 Mizzou International Composers Festival
concerts on July 24, 25 & 26 at Missouri Theatre
Alarm Will Sound Tickets are now on sale for the 2014 Mizzou International Composers Festival’s concerts on Thursday, July 24; Friday, July 25; and Saturday, July 26. Celebrating its fifth anniversary in 2014, the Mizzou International Composers Festival will take place starting Monday, July 21 through Saturday, July 26 in Columbia. Already considered one of the most noteworthy contemporary music events in the Midwest, the MICF attracts attention from composers, musicians, music educators, and media around the world. Once again, the grand finale of the week will feature the world premieres of eight new works written by…
April 15, 2014
Mizzou New Music Ensemble to perform works
by Furrer, McKenney, and five student composers
on Sunday, April 27 at Whitmore Recital Hall
The Mizzou New Music Ensemble will present their final on-campus concert of the 2013-14 academic year at 7:30 p.m., Sunday, April 27 in Whitmore Recital Hall, 135 Fine Arts Building on the University of Missouri campus. Admission is free for Mizzou students, $5 suggested donation for the general public. The program will include new works from five Mizzou students, plus music from Mizzou professor W. Thomas McKenney and from Swiss composer Beat Furrer, who will be one of two guest composers at this summer’s Mizzou International Composers Festival. Furrer’s “Aer,” written for clarinet, cello, and piano, is…
April 9, 2014
Mizzou International Composers Festival 2014 launch event
on Tuesday, April 22 at Ragtag Cinema to feature
live music, film, and a chat with composer Nico Muhly
The Mizzou International Composers Festival will launch ticket sales for 2014 with a FREE public event on Tuesday, April 22 at Ragtag Cinema featuring live music, refreshments, a film screening, and a live-by-Skype video chat with Nico Muhly, who will be a guest composer at this year’s festival. Doors will open at 5:00 p.m., and single tickets and festival passes for the 2014 MICF will be on sale at special discounted prices throughout the event. The Mizzou New Music Ensemble (pictured) will perform at 5:45 p.m., followed a screening of the film “Choking Man,”…
March 20, 2014
MICF resident composers in the news
Here’s the latest news and updates from some of the resident composers at past Mizzou International Composers Festivals: * Jeremy Podgursky, MICF 2010, is one of six winners this year of a Charles Ives scholarship from the American Academy of Arts and Letters. The $7,500 scholarships are awarded to composition students of great promise, as selected by a committee of academy members including MICF 2010 guest composer Martin Bresnick, Joan Tower, Samuel Adler, Mario Davidovsky, John Harbison, Stephen Hartke, Tania León, and Tobias Picker. The Ives scholarships and the academy’s other awards in music will be presented at…