Mizzou New Music Initiative

Feb. 6, 2019

Annika Socolofsky visiting Mizzou for concert, residency

Composer and singer Annika Socolofsky is coming to Mizzou later this month for a residency and concert. During her visit, she will coach the Mizzou New Music Ensemble, make a presentation on her music to composition students, and give private lessons to selected composition majors. Socolofsky will conclude her residency by performing with the Ensemble when they present her work “Don’t say a word” at their concert on Sunday, February 24 at Whitmore Recital Hall. Currently a doctoral candidate and fellow in composition at Princeton University. Socolofsky previously earned an MFA in composition from Princeton, an…

Feb. 5, 2019

St. Louis Symphony musicians to premiere new work by Stephanie Berg

Musicians from the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra will premiere a new work by Mizzou alumnae Stephanie Berg in a concert next month at Powell Hall in St. Louis. Berg’s “Three Prayers” was commissioned by SLSO clarinetist Diana Haskell, and will be performed for the first time as part of of a program of chamber music titled “Equal Play: Celebrating Women Composers” at 7:00 p.m. Friday, March 1 at Powell Hall, 718 N. Grand in St. Louis’ Grand Center district. Berg (pictured) will introduce her work during the concert, which also will include music by Jennifer Higdon…

Jan. 29, 2019

Mizzou New Music Ensemble performs at 2019 MMEA Conference

Jan. 18, 2019

Transient Canvas coming to Mizzou for residency, concert on Monday, February 4

The new music duo Transient Canvas will visit Mizzou next month for a residency and concert. They’ll perform at 7:30 p.m. Monday, February 4 at Whitmore Recital Hall, presenting a program of electroacoustic music by contemporary composers Brian Sears, Kirsten Volness, Peter Van Zandt Lane, Marissa Hickman, Dan VanHassel, and David Ibbett. The concert is free and open to the public. While they’re on campus, bass clarinetist Amy Advocat and percussionist Matt Sharrock also will present master classes on their respective instruments and make a presentation to student composers. They’ll wrap up their residency by reading new works from…

Jan. 17, 2019

Missouri Composers Project selects four works for concert by Columbia Civic Orchestra, Columbia Chamber Choir on Sunday, March 10 at First Baptist Church

Clockwise from top left: Olivia Bennett, Gwanyu Cao, Ben Rouder, Ed Frazier Davis The Mizzou New Music Initiative (MNMI) has announced the selection of four winners in the 2019 Missouri Composers Project (MOCOP) competition. Now in its eighth year, MOCOP is a collaborative effort involving MNMI, the Columbia Civic Orchestra (CCO), the Columbia Chamber Choir, and the Sinquefield Charitable Foundation. Composers from all over Missouri are invited each year to submit orchestral and choral works for potential performance, with winners selected in two age categories, “open” and “high school.” All four winners of the 2019 competition…

Jan. 2, 2019

Mizzou International Composers Festival announces resident composers for 2019

The Mizzou New Music Initiative (MNMI) has selected eight resident composers to participate in the 2019 Mizzou International Composers Festival (MICF). Presented by MNMI and the University of Missouri School of Music from Monday, July 22 through Saturday, July 27 in Columbia, the tenth 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: * Theophilus Chandler, Houston TX * Inti Figgis-Vizueta, Brooklyn NY * Charles Halka, Bellingham WA * Chelsea Komschlies, Philadelphia PA *…

Dec. 28, 2018

Mizzou composers Libby Roberts, Niko Schroeder featured in Columbia Daily Tribune

From left: Roberts, Schroeder Mizzou composers Libby Roberts and Niko Schroeder both were featured recently in stories published by the Columbia Daily Tribune. Roberts, a second-year masters student in composition who also serves as the pianist for the Mizzou New Music Ensemble, was the subject of a story by features editor Aarik Danielsen under the headline “Whole notes: MU student unites mind, body and soul in musical pursuits.” She is one of three Mizzou composers taking part in this year’s program of readings by musicians of the St. Louis Symphony and resident conductor Gemma New, and will…

Dec. 18, 2018

Producer for Mizzou faculty members earns Grammy nomination

One of the nominees this year in the Grammy Awards’ “Classical Producer of the Year” category has a Mizzou connection. Veteran producer Judith Sherman, a 12-time Grammy Award nominee and winner of the award for Classical Producer of the Year for 1993, 2007 and 2011, is nominated again for her work in 2018, including the Albany Records release New Music for Violin and Piano by violinist Julie Rosenfeld and pianist Peter Miyamoto. Miyamoto is a professor of piano and Rosenfeld an assistant professor of violin at Mizzou, and one of the eight new works included…