Feb. 8, 2018

Kuang-Hao Huang to visit Mizzou for residency, concerts on February 24 & 25

Pianist Kuang-Hao Huang is coming to Mizzou later this month for a four-day residency that will include public performances on Saturday, February 24 and Sunday, February 25. Huang (pictured) will perform with Mizzou faculty mezzo-soprano Julia Bentley in a concert at 7:30 p.m. on Saturday, February 24, presenting works by Alban Berg, Arnold Schönberg, Anton Webern, Hanns Eisler, and Olivier Messiaen. Then at 3:00 p.m. on Sunday, February 25, Huang will accompany Mizzou students singing and performing in an all-Messiaen concert of chamber music. Both performances will take place in Whitmore Recital Hall on the Mizzou campus. Admission…

Jan. 4, 2018

Aaron Hynds to perform Wednesday, January 17 at Whitmore Recital Hall

Aaron Hynds, a tubist, composer, and audio engineer with a penchant for new music, is coming to Mizzou to present a guest artist recital and lecture at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday, January 17 at Whitmore Recital Hall on the MU campus. The program will include “Dyadic Affinities’ by Asha Srinivasan (who was a resident composer at the 2012 Mizzou International Composers Festival), plus one of Hynds’ own compositions, as well as works by Hong-Da Chin, Asia Ahmetjanova, Elise Roy, and Doug McCausland. The concert is free and open to the public. Hynds (pictured) has been…

Nov. 1, 2017

Alarm Will Sound to play free concert on Wednesday, December 6 at Missouri Theatre

Alarm Will Sound is returning to Columbia to perform at 7:00 p.m. Wednesday, December 6 at the Missouri Theatre, 203 S. 9th St. Admission to the concert is free and open to the public. As the resident ensemble for the annual Mizzou International Composers Festival (MICF), Alarm Will Sound (pictured) has been playing in mid-Missouri since 2010, and five of the six composers whose works they’ll perform in December at the Missouri Theatre have a connection to the MICF. Two of the works were created specifically for the festival by past resident composers. “Paper Pianos I. You…

Oct. 16, 2017

JACK Quartet coming to Mizzou for residency, concert on Friday, October 27

The acclaimed new music group JACK Quartet is coming to the University of Missouri for a two-day residency, culminating in a concert at 7:30 p.m. Friday, October 27 at Whitmore Recital Hall. Admission to the concert is $5 at the door for the general public, free to Mizzou students, faculty and staff with ID. In addition to the concert, while they’re on campus the quartet (pictured) will have coaching sessions with the university’s graduate string quartet and Mizzou New Music Ensemble, and take part in a convocation with the entire School of Music. They also will present a…

Sep. 27, 2017

Composer Steven Snowden visiting Mizzou for residency from October 1-3

Composer Steven Snowden will visit the Mizzou campus next week for a residency starting Sunday, October 1 and culminating in a “Composer Portrait” concert of his works at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, October 3 at Whitmore Recital Hall. The concert will include Mizzou faculty ensemble DRAX performing the world premieres of “Where are Our Mothers” and “We Don’t Have Enough Time,” two new works commissioned from Snowden with support from the Mizzou New Music Initiative and the Sinquefield Charitable Foundation. While on campus, Snowden (pictured) also will give a presentation to composition students about his music, and…

March 15, 2017

William Averitt’s “Black Pierrot” inspired by poet Langston Hughes

Mizzou musicology professor Stephanie Shonekan (at left) leads a discussion with composer William Averitt (second from right) on the poetry of Langston Hughes. For his latest commissioned work “Black Pierrot,” composer William Averitt once again has drawn inspiration from the poetry of Langston Hughes. Scheduled for a world premiere on Saturday, March 18 at First Baptist Church in Columbia, “Black Pierrot” was commissioned by Mizzou’s director of choral studies Paul Crabb for the University Singers and the Mizzou New Music Ensemble, directed by Stefan Freund, with funding from the Sinquefield Charitable Foundation. Averitt, who’s now professor emeritus of…

March 8, 2017

University Singers, Mizzou New Music Ensemble to premiere new work by William Averitt in concert on Saturday, March 18

The University of Missouri’s University Singers and Mizzou New Music Ensemble will present the world premiere of “Black Pierrot,” a newly commissioned work from composer William Averitt, in a concert at 7:00 p.m. Saturday, March 18 at the First Baptist Church, 1112 East Broadway in Columbia. General admission to the concert is $5 for the public, free for Mizzou faculty, students and staff. “Black Pierrot” was commissioned by Mizzou director of choral activities Paul Crabb for the University Singers and the Mizzou New Music Ensemble with funding from the Sinquefield Charitable Foundation. Inspired by seven poems…

Feb. 21, 2017

Composer Don Freund in residence this weekend at Mizzou

This weekend, the Mizzou New Music Initiative will welcome composer Don Freund to campus for a four-day residency. A professor of composition at the Indiana University Jacobs School of Music since 1992, Freund (pictured) is an internationally recognized composer whose works range from solo, chamber, and orchestral music to pieces involving live performances with electronic instruments; music for dance; and large theater works. He has been described as “a composer thoughtful in approach and imaginative in style” (The Washington Post), whose music is “exciting, amusing, disturbing, beautiful, and always fascinating” (Music and Musicians/London ). Freund also has a personal…