Jan. 9, 2018
Mikkel Christensen wins grand prize in ShoutHouse call for scores
Mizzou’s Mikkel Christensen has won the grand prize in a worldwide open call for scores from the ensemble ShoutHouse in New York City. Christensen (pictured) is in his first year of work toward a master’s degree in composition at Mizzou, studying with Stefan Freund. A native of Lockhart, TX, he earned his undergraduate degree in music and technology at Stevens Institute of Technology in Hoboken, NJ. Formed in 2012, ShoutHouse is a 14-member chamber orchestra of classical, hip-hop, and jazz musicians that describes their style as combining “the freedom and lyricism of jazz, the poetry of hip-hop, and…
Aug. 31, 2017
Mizzou faculty ensemble ZouM to perform Friday, September 8 in Columbia and Saturday, September 9 in St. Louis
The Mizzou faculty collective ZouM will showcase new music from six living composers with performances next weekend in Columbia and St. Louis. They’ll play at 7:30 p.m. Friday, September 8 at Whitmore Recital Hall on the MU campus, then travel to St. Louis for a concert at 7:30 p.m. Saturday, September 9 at Washington University’s 560 Music Center. Admission to the concert in Columbia is $5 for the general public, free to Mizzou students, staff and faculty with ID. The St. Louis concert is free and open to the public. In all, fifteen Mizzou faculty members (plus one guest…
Aug. 22, 2017
St. Louis Symphony musicians to read works by Mizzou composers
Three student composers from the University of Missouri School of Music will get a chance this academic year to have their orchestral works read, critiqued, and then played again by musicians from the St. Louis Symphony. Under the auspices of the Mizzou New Music Initiative, student composers Dustin Dunn, Aaron Mencher, and Douglas Osmun (pictured) are writing new works for a 40-piece chamber orchestra, which will be read and played by members of the Symphony in a private session this November in St. Louis. The composers then will get a chance to revise their works…
July 6, 2017
Missouri Summer Composition Institute featured in Columbia Missourian
MNMI’s Summer Composition Institute, held last month on the Mizzou campus, was the subject of a feature story in the Columbia Missourian. The Summer Composition Institute, often referred to as “COMP Camp” or “Summer COMP,” brings together a select group of high school composers from around the state for a week of intensive instruction, culminating in a concert featuring new works written during the week by the campers. In the article “Young composers create music in just one week,” Missourian reporter Katherine Herrick explained what COMP Camp is all about and interviewed several campers, including Holden Franklin, a…
Feb. 24, 2017
Aaron Mencher wins third place in American Prize composition competition
Mizzou student composer Aaron Mencher‘s piece “New” last month was awarded third place in the 2016 American Prize in Composition – Band/Wind Ensemble, Student Division competition. Mencher (pictured) is a sophomore composition major and Sinquefield Scholar from John’s Creek, GA, a suburb of Atlanta. “New” previously was a winner in the 2015 NAfME Student Composers Competition, and was premiered by the All-National Concert Band. The work also was performed last year by the University Wind Ensemble, and has been published by Murphy Music Press. Last semester, Mencher won the Boston New Music Initiative’s 2016…
Jan. 25, 2017
Dustin Dunn wins second place in MTNA’s national composition competition
Mizzou student Dustin Dunn has placed second in the “Young Artist” category of this year’s Music Teachers National Association (MTNA) national composition competition. Dunn (pictured), a junior working on a bachelor’s degree in music composition, was recognized for “Of Stained Glass and Hymnody,” which was premiered in March 2016 by the Mizzou New Music Ensemble. His work became eligible for a national award after winning first place in the Missouri statewide and West Central Division portions of the competition. As the second place winner, Dunn will receive a cash prize. A native of Annapolis, MO and graduate of…
Dec. 7, 2016
Dustin Dunn advances in MTNA national composition competition
Mizzou student Dustin Dunn has won the West Central Division in the “Young Artist” category of the Music Teachers National Association (MTNA) composition competition. Dunn (pictured), a junior working on a bachelor’s degree in music composition, was recognized for “Of Stained Glass and Hymnody,” which was premiered in March 2016 by the Mizzou New Music Ensemble. His award in the West Central Division is the latest step in a process that began in October, when he was named winner of the Missouri state division of this year’s MTNA competition. Dunn’s work now advances to the…
Nov. 30, 2016
Mizzou composer Douglas Osmun featured in Columbia Missourian
Mizzou composer Douglas Osmun, a first-year graduate student in composition and the winner of the 2017 Sinquefield Composition Prize, was the subject of a feature story this week in the Columbia Missourian. Osmun (pictured) talked with reporter Ann Marion about his composition process and about “First Fig,” the work he submitted in this year’s Sinquefield Prize competition. As the winner of the competition, Osman was commissioned to write a new work for the University Philharmonic, which will get a premiere performance in April at the annual Chancellor’s Arts Showcase at the Missouri Theatre. You can read the whole story…