News

Aug. 18, 2026

Katherine Balch and David Longstreth Named Distinguished Guest Composers for 2027 Mizzou International Composers Festival; Applications Open for Resident Composers

Internationally acclaimed composer Katherine Balch and American songwriter and composer David Longstreth will serve as Distinguished Guest Composers at the 18th annual Mizzou International Composers Festival (MICF), which will take place July 25-31, 2027 in Columbia, Missouri.   Applications are now open for eight Resident Composers to write new works for GRAMMY Award-winning Resident Ensemble Alarm Will Sound. The 18th annual MICF will feature concerts of music by contemporary composers performed in front of live audiences, along with in-person workshops, master classes, and other events.

Utku Asuroglu

Aug. 9, 2026

Utku Asuroglu, University of Missouri School of Music Assistant Professor of Composition and Assistant Artistic Director of the Mizzou International Composers Festival, Awarded 2026 Music Commission from Library of Congress’ Koussevitzky Foundation

The Serge Koussevitzky Music Foundation in the Library of Congress has awarded Utku Asuroglu, University of Missouri School of Music Assistant Professor of Composition and Assistant Artistic Director of the Mizzou International Composers Festival, a commission to compose a new musical work. He is one of six composers worldwide to win the commission, which is granted jointly by the foundation and the performing organization that will present the world premiere of each work. Ensemble Dal Niente co-sponsored Asuroglu’s commission. Based in Chicago, Ensemble…

Maxubishi

July 18, 2026

MICF Afterparty Featuring Maxubishi and RP Boo

An afterparty featuring DJ Maxubishi and Chicago Footwork electronic music producer RP Boo will be held immediately following the Mizzou New Music Concert on Friday, July 24 in the Sinquefield Music Center‘s Room 130. Maxubishi Maxubishi is a Columbia, Missouri, DJ whose path started accidentally, digging through dollar bins while tagging along on resourcing trips for his wife’s vintage clothing shop, Maude Vintage. What began as just digging turned into a full-blown creative practice shaped by curiosity, instinct, and a love for the rooms in which he’s asked to play.

Piano-and-percussion ensemble Yarn/Wire

July 18, 2026

Bio: MICF Performers Yarn/Wire

Percussion-and-piano quartet Yarn/Wire will perform world premieres by Selim Göncü and Dominick DeStefano as well as works by Steve Reich and Brittany J. Green, at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday, July 22 in the Sinquefield Music Center’s Sheryl Crow Hall. Described by the New York Times as “key figures from the contemporary music scene… with unmistakable devotion and excitement” and “wildly virtuosic” by The Wire, Yarn/Wire is a New York-based percussion-and-piano quartet (Russell Greenberg and Dustin Donahue, percussion; Laura Barger and Julia Den Boer, pianos) dedicated to the promotion of creative, experimental new music.

2026 MICF Distinguished Composer Jlin (photo by Lawrence Agyei)

July 15, 2026

Bio: MICF Distinguished Guest Composer Jlin

Distinguished Guest Composers Jlin and Karola Obermüller will give presentations on their work at 7:30 p.m. July 21 in Room 130 of the Sinquefield Music Center. Works by both composers will be played by MICF Resident Ensemble Alarm Will Sound at 7:30 p.m. July 23 at the Missouri Theatre, and by the Mizzou New Music Ensemble and the Mizzou Percussion Ensemble at 7:30 p.m. July 24 in the Sinquefield Music Center’s Sheryl Crow…

2026 MICF Distinguished Composer Karola Obermüller

July 14, 2026

Bio: MICF Distinguished Guest Composer Karola Obermüller

Distinguished Guest Composers Karola Obermüller and Jlin will give presentations on their work at 7:30 p.m. July 21 in Room 130 of the Sinquefield Music Center. Works by both composers will be played by MICF Resident Ensemble Alarm Will Sound at 7:30 p.m. July 23 at the Missouri Theatre, and by the Mizzou New Music Ensemble and the Mizzou Percussion Ensemble at 7:30 p.m. July 24 in the Sinquefield Music Center’s Sheryl Crow Hall.

2026 MICF Resident Composer Arjan Singh Dogra

July 9, 2026

Five Questions for MICF Resident Composer Arjan Singh Dogra

Arjan Singh Dogra is one of eight Resident Composers selected to participate in the 2026 Mizzou International Composers Festival. MICF Resident Ensemble Alarm Will Sound will perform his composition Medals of Impotent Bravery at 7:30 p.m. on Saturday, July 25, at Columbia’s Missouri Theatre. The concert is free and open to the public. Dogra is a composer and performer based in New York City who creates art to understand and contextualize his relationship with time, nature, and his culture. He invites audiences experiencing his art to challenge their own perception of time and reflect on their connection…

2026 MICF Resident Composer Inga Chinilina

July 8, 2026

Five Questions for MICF Resident Composer Inga Chinilina

Inga Chinilina is one of eight Resident Composers selected to participate in the 2026 Mizzou International Composers Festival. MICF Resident Ensemble Alarm Will Sound will perform her composition Entangled Vines at 7:30 p.m. on Saturday, July 25, at Columbia’s Missouri Theatre. The concert is free and open to the public. Hailing from Moscow, Russia, Chinilina is a multimedia composer with concert pieces ranging from solo to orchestral compositions, alongside works for dance, film, and installations. She sees music as an act of translation, a concept she explores in both her academic and creative work. This conceptual…