
Feb. 18, 2025
2025 Sinquefield Prize winner Giovanni Porfirio invited to perform at Brazilian Legion of Good Will event in New York City
Giovanni Porfirio, the 2025 Sinquefield Composition Prize winner, has been invited to perform at the opening of the Brazilian Legion of Good Will’s new offices in New York City on Monday, March 10. The Legion of Good Will (LGW) is a nonprofit organization dedicated to providing educational and social assistance programs for economically disadvantaged communities. It was founded in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, on January 1, 1950 by poet and radio broadcaster Alziro Zarur, and established in New York in 1986. Giovanni Porfirio and Dr. Jeanne Sinquefield at the Sinquefield Prize award dinner on Nov.

Nov. 18, 2024
Giovanni Porfirio wins 2025 Sinquefield Composition Prize: New composition to be premiered at Chancellor’s Arts Showcase
The University of Missouri School of Music and the Mizzou New Music Initiative haveawarded the 2025 Sinquefield Composition Prize to student composer GiovanniPorfirio. The prize is the top award for a composition student at Mizzou. Porfirio is a composer from Sao Paulo, Brazil, and earned a bachelor’s degree from SaoPaulo State University. He is currently pursuing a master’s degree at the University of Missouri. As the Sinquefield Composition Prize winner, Porfirio will receive a $2,500 scholarshipand be commissioned to write a new work for the University Philharmonic Orchestra, which willpremier to…

July 11, 2023
2023 Resident Composer Spotlight: Santiago Beis
Santiago Beis is one of eight Resident Composers selected for the 2023 Mizzou International Composers Festival from among 500 applicants, 28% of which are from outside the USA, representing 49 countries. Beis is an Uru-Brazilian composer, pianist, audio designer, arranger, and artistic researcher. Santiago Beis He holds a Bachelor’s degree in composition with Maurício Dottori, Harry Crowl, Márcio Steuernagel, and Felipe de Almeida Ribeiro at Escola de Música e Belas Artes do Paraná – UNESPAR. While there, he worked with new music ensembles such as Orquestra de Câmara da Cidade de Curitiba, Ensemble Nova…

Oct. 17, 2022
Morima Yerby wins 2023 Sinquefield Composition Prize
The University of Missouri School of Music and the Mizzou New Music Initiative have awarded the 2023 Sinquefield Composition Prize to Morima Yerby. Now in its 18th year, the Sinquefield Composition Prize is the top award for a composition student at Mizzou. Morima Yerby As this year’s winner, Morima Yerby will be awarded a $2,500 prize and will be commissioned to write a new work for the MU Symphony orchestra. The Orchestra will premiere the work at the Chancellor’s Arts Showcase in the 2023 Spring semester. The work will also be professionally recorded. The other finalists for the 2023 Sinquefield Composition Prize were: Harry…

Oct. 25, 2021
Luis Hermano Bezerra wins 2022 Sinquefield Composition Prize
The University of Missouri School of Music and the Mizzou New Music Initiative have awarded the 2022 Sinquefield Composition Prize to Luis Hermano Bezerra. Now in its 17th year, the Sinquefield Composition Prize is the top award for a composition student at Mizzou. Luis Hermano Bezerra As this year’s winner, Bezerra will be awarded a $1,500 prize and will be commissioned to write a new work for the University Wind Ensemble. The Ensemble will premiere the work as part of the 2022 Chancellor’s Arts Showcase on Friday, February 25, 2022 at Jesse Auditorium on the University of Missouri campus. The work will also be professionally recorded.

Oct. 12, 2020
Santiago Beis wins 2021 Sinquefield Composition Prize
The University of Missouri School of Music and the Mizzou New Music Initiative have awarded the 2021 Sinquefield Composition Prize to Santiago Beis. Beis is a first-year graduate student working toward a master’s degree in composition at Mizzou. He submitted “La sed y el Agua” (“Thirst and Water”), a work for piano and string orchestra, to the competition and was selected for the prize by a panel of independent judges. The adjudicators for the 2021 competition were Yigit Kolat, composer and lecturer at the University of Washington; Wendy Richman, violist with the International Contemporary Ensemble and The Rhythm Method; and…

Sep. 23, 2019
Ben Rouder wins 2020 Sinquefield Composition Prize
The University of Missouri School of Music and the Mizzou New Music Initiative have awarded the 2020 Sinquefield Composition Prize to Ben Rouder. Rouder (pictured) is a junior working toward a bachelor’s degree in composition at Mizzou. He submitted “M.I.S.”, a work for chamber ensemble originally composed as part of last year’s “Influences Symphony” project, to the competition and was selected for the prize by independent judges. The adjudicators for the 2020 competition were Yotam Haber, associate professor of music composition at the University of Missouri-Kansas City and Nina C. Young, assistant professor at the University of Southern California. Now…

Oct. 1, 2018
Niko Schroeder wins 2019 Sinquefield Composition Prize
The University of Missouri School of Music and the Mizzou New Music Initiative have awarded the 2019 Sinquefield Composition Prize to Niko Schroeder. Schroeder (pictured) is in his first year of study for a master’s degree in composition at Mizzou. He submitted “genealogy I,” a work written for piano, violin, and cello, to the competition and was selected for the prize by a panel of independent judges. The adjudicators for the 2019 competition were Emily Koh, assistant professor of composition at the University of Georgia; Sky Macklay, assistant professor of music at Valparaiso University; and David Werfelmann, assistant professor…