Oct. 18, 2023
New music reed quintet Splinter Reeds in residence at University of Missouri School of Music Oct. 19-20
The new music reed quintet Splinter Reeds will be in residence at the University of Missouri School of Music on Oct. 19 and 20. Splinter Reeds is the West Coast’s first reed quartet and is committed to presenting top-tier performances of contemporary works, commissioning new works, and exploring the possibilities of a quintet made up entirely of reed players. The group includes Kyle Bruckmann (oboe), Bill Kalinkos (clarinet), Nicki Roman (saxophone), Jeff Anderle (bass clarinet), and Dana Jessen (bassoon). Their music traverses the realms of classical, free jazz, improvisation, electronic music, pop, punk, and…
Oct. 28, 2022
Missouri Composers Project (MOCOP) expands to include additional categories for composers of new orchestral and choral music from neighboring states
The Missouri Composers Project (MOCOP) is looking for new orchestral and choral music written by residents of Missouri as well as neighboring states. Now in its eleventh year, MOCOP is a collaborative effort involving the Mizzou New Music Initiative, the Columbia Civic Orchestra (CCO), the Columbia Chamber Choir, and the Sinquefield Charitable Foundation to bring attention to new large ensemble works written in the state of Missouri in its high school and open categories. MOCOP now offers an opportunity for undergraduates studying at universities in the neighboring states of Iowa, Illinois, Kentucky, Arkansas, Oklahoma, Tennessee, and Nebraska. By identifying…
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. 5, 2022
Composer José Halac’s Oct. 5-9, 2023 residency concludes with Mizzou New Music Ensemble concert
José Halac, an award-winning Argentinian composer and researcher of contemporary music, will be in residence from Wednesday, October 5 through Sunday, October 9, 2022 at the University of Missouri School of Music. Halac’s residency is funded by the Mizzou New Music Initiative (MNMI) and the Sinquefield Charitable Foundation. José Halac Photo credit: Susana Perez During his residency, Halac will work with the Mizzou New Music Ensemble on his new piece,…
Sep. 11, 2022
Mizzou International Composers Festival announces 2023 Festival Dates and Featured Guest Composers; Opens Resident Composer application process
The Mizzou New Music Initiative has set the dates, named the Featured Guest Composers, and will begin accepting Resident Composer entries for the 2023 Mizzou International Composers Festival (MICF). The 14th annual MICF will take place Monday, July 24 through Saturday, July 29, 2023 at the University of Missouri School of Music in Columbia, MO. Alarm Will Sound in concert at the 2022 Mizzou International Composers Festival MICF will once again feature concerts of music by contemporary composers performed in front of live audiences, along with in-person workshops, master classes, and other events. Saturday night’s…
Sep. 6, 2022
A look back at the 2022 Mizzou International Composers Festival concerts
The 2022 Mizzou International Composers Festival returned to live concerts after two years of online-only performances at the 2020 and 2021 MICFs. If you attended the live MILF concerts presented at the Missouri Theater, and at Sheryl Crow Hall at the Sinquefield Music Center the last week of July, you experienced firsthand the energy and excitement of these outstanding performances. Let’s take a look back at video recordings of four of these concerts. On Monday, July 25th, The MICF kickoff concert at Sheryl Crow Hall featured resident Mizzou students performing works by Stephen Landy, María Disandro, JT Wolfe, Josè Martinez, Andrew Wiele,…
April 10, 2025
Mizzou Student Yoell Tewolde featured on the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra’s SLSO Stories blog
Mizzou sophomore composition student Yoell Tewolde was recently featured on the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra’s SLSO Stories blog. Tewolde’s piece waves on the shore for piano and wind quintet will be given its world premiere performance at 7:30 p.m. April 24 as part of the SLSO’s final “Live at the Sheldon” chamber-music concert of the season. The series is an ongoing collaboration between the SLSO and the Mizzou New Music Initiative. The April 24 concert, held at the Sheldon Concert Hall in St. Louis, is titled “Wind and Water” and is curated by the…
April 8, 2025
Song composed for Creating Original Music Project creates a win for student as well as a small Missouri community
For evidence of how the Mizzou New Music Initiative’s Creating Original Music Project can impact not just an aspiring songwriter/composer, but also a teacher, a school, and even a community, look no further than Galena, Missouri’s Brendan Rieth and his song “Pretty,” which earned second place in COMP’s High School Acoustic category. Galena – population 455 as of the 2020 census – “is like, your picture-perfect definition of a rural small town,” says Drew Tate, the Music Director at Galena High School, the student body of which numbers around 200. “It’s very close-knit. So…
April 7, 2025
In Kansas City magazine spotlights MNMI Artistic Director Stefan Freund
MNMI Artistic Director Stefan Freund spoke with In Kansas City magazine about the music he composed for an “audible landscape” based on Tomi Ungerer’s The Three Robbers, which will be featured at The Rabbit hOle, an immersive children’s literature museum in North Kansas City. “The music for The Three Robbers came very easily to me since the text and pictures of the book were so evocative,” Freund tells In Kansas City. “There are also refrains in the music that had a particular rhythmic feeling that I used as motives.” Dr. Stefan…
April 1, 2025
Students Gonzalez, Schlegel, and Wolfe premiere new works with the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra
New works by three University of Missouri School of Music students were given their world premiere on Wednesday, March 26, in a concert by the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra at the Touhill Performing Arts Center in St. Louis. SLSO Assistant Conductor Samuel Hollister led the performance. Harry Gonzalez, a master’s student from Medellin, Colombia; Atticus Schlegel, a senior from St. Louis; and JT Wolfe, a senior from St. Joseph, MO, were selected to participate in the program through a collaboration between the SLSO and the Mizzou New Music Initiative (MNMI). The pieces performed…
March 18, 2025
St. Louis Symphony Orchestra to Premiere Three New Works from Mizzou Student Composers at March 26 Concert at The Touhill
Three University of Missouri School of Music students will have their original compositions performed by the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra (SLSO) at a special concert at the Touhill Performing Arts Center at the University of Missouri in St. Louis on March 26, 2025 at 7:30 p.m. This concert will feature works by Harry Gonzalez, a master’s student from Medellin, Colombia; Atticus Schlegel, a senior from St. Louis; and JT Wolfe, a senior from St. Joseph, MO. They were selected through a collaboration between the SLSO and the Mizzou New Music Initiative (MNMI). The program is funded by the Sinquefield Charitable Foundation. The new…
March 17, 2025
Mizzou New Music Initiative announces winners in the 2025 Creating Original Music Project Competition
The Mizzou New Music Initiative has announced the winning composers in the 2025 Creating Original Music Project (COMP). Now in its 20th year, COMP is an annual statewide competition sponsored by the University of Missouri School of Music and the Sinquefield Charitable Foundation. COMP showcases new, original music from Missouri student composers and songwriters in grades K-12, offering positive recognition, prizes, performances, educational opportunities, and more. For the competition, students in grades K-5 submit compositions in two categories: Instrumental Music and Songs with Words. For grades 6-8, the categories are Acoustic, Notated, and Produced; for grades 9-12, the categories…
March 5, 2025
Mizzou student Henry Rusten featured in Cape Girardeau’s Southeast Missourian and on the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra’s SLSO Stories blog
Mizzou student Henry Rusten, a composer and multi-instrumentalist, was recently featured in Cape Girardeau’s Southeast Missourian and on the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra’s SLSO Stories blog. Rusten’s piece Paradigm Shift for string quartet will be given its world premiere performance at 7:30 p.m. March 6 as part of the SLSO’s “Live at the Sheldon” chamber-music series. Henry Rusten The series is an ongoing collaboration between the SLSO and the Mizzou New Music Initiative. The March 6 concert, held at The Sheldon Concert Hall in St. Louis, is titled “Echoes of Home” and curated by the orchestra’s violinist…
Feb. 25, 2025
Works by Missouri Composers Project winners to be performed by Columbia Civic Orchestra, Premiere Vocal Artists in Sunday, April 13 concert
The Columbia Civic Orchestra (CCO) and Premiere Vocal Artists, conducted by Jeremy Wagner, will perform the winning works from the 2025 Missouri Composers Project (MOCOP) competition in a concert at 7:30 p.m. Sunday, April 13 at Broadway Christian Church, 2601 W Broadway in Columbia. Admission to the concert is free and open to the public. Now in its 13th year, MOCOP is a collaborative effort involving the Mizzou New Music Initiative, the Columbia Civic Orchestra, Premiere Vocal Artists, and the Sinquefield Charitable Foundation. Composers from all over Missouri are invited each year to submit orchestral and choral works for…