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,…
Aug. 27, 2025
Three 2025 Mizzou Master of Music Composition graduates accept placements at prestigious universities
Three 2025 Mizzou Master of Music Composition graduates have accepted placements at prestigious universities where they will pursue further advanced degrees in music. Seda Balci has accepted an assistantship to pursue a PhD in Music Composition and Technology at Northwestern University. Harry Gonzalez has accepted an assistantship to pursue a Doctor of Musical Arts in Composition at Rice University. And Giovanni Porfirio has been accepted to the Barenboim-Said Akademie in Berlin. Seda Balci Harry Gonzalez Giovanni Porfirio Balci says her music is shaped by her three great…
Aug. 21, 2025
2011 Mizzou International Composer Festival Resident Composer David Biedenbender Awarded Prestigious Barlow Prize
The Barlow Endowment for Music Composition at Brigham Young University has announced that David Biedenbender is the recipient of the 2025 Barlow Prize: a commission to compose a major new work of 15 minutes for wind symphony. The piece will be premiered by a consortium of performers which will include the BYU Wind Symphony, the Tokyo Kosei Wind Orchestra, the United States Navy Band, and the University of Michigan Symphony Band. His submission was selected from 526 entries by composers hailing from 46 countries. David Biedenbender The Barlow Endowment for Music Composition, one…
July 21, 2025
Five Questions for MICF Resident Composer Daniel Reza Sabzghabaei
Daniel Reza Sabzghabaei is one of eight Resident Composers selected to participate in the 2025 Mizzou International Composers Festival. MICF Resident Ensemble Alarm Will Sound will perform his composition Residues III. The Cheers of Dawn at 7:30 p.m. on Saturday, July 26, at Columbia’s Missouri Theatre. The concert is free and open to the public. Sabzghabaei is a creator who is interested in looking at time through different lenses: unpacking notions of tradition, exploring memories of those past, and investigating nostalgic frameworks that lean forward. His music has…
July 21, 2025
Five Questions for MICF Resident Composer Geli Li
Geli Li is one of eight Resident Composers selected to participate in the 2025 Mizzou International Composers Festival. MICF Resident Ensemble Alarm Will Sound will perform Li’s composition The Smell of Sunshine at 7:30 p.m. on Saturday, July 26, at Columbia’s Missouri Theatre. The concert is free and open to the public. Li’s music has been performed on three continents by more than 30 ensembles and orchestras, including the Orchestra of St. Luke’s, Talea Ensemble, Klangforum Wien, and Hanatsu Miroir, among many others. A winner of the Henri…
July 21, 2025
Five Questions for MICF Resident Composer Chris L. Thompson
Chris L. Thompson is one of eight Resident Composers selected to participate in the 2025 Mizzou International Composers Festival. MICF Resident Ensemble Alarm Will Sound will perform his composition Shadows Uplifted at 7:30 p.m. on Saturday, July 26, at Columbia’s Missouri Theatre. The concert is free and open to the public. Christopher Thompson, also known as “Master Christopher,” is a multi-disciplined performer-composer who creates innovative ways to blur the distinction between genres. Through his project “Music Desegregation,” he merges contemporary art music, jazz, and percussion, with notated rap.
July 21, 2025
Five Questions for MICF Resident Composer Matt Smith
Matt Smith is one of eight Resident Composers selected to participate in the 2025 Mizzou International Composers Festival. MICF Resident Ensemble Alarm Will Sound will perform his composition As Brightness Is To Time at 7:30 p.m. on Saturday, July 26, at Columbia’s Missouri Theatre. The concert is free and open to the public. Matt Smith is a Los Angeles-based composer whose music blends lush harmonies, lyricism, and imaginative soundscapes, inspired by storytelling, philosophy, and nature. His works have been performed at the Aspen Music Festival, Atlantic Music Festival,…
July 21, 2025
Five Questions for MICF Resident Composer Parker Callister
Parker Callister is one of eight Resident Composers selected to participate in the 2025 Mizzou International Composers Festival. MICF Resident Ensemble Alarm Will Sound will perform Callister’s composition if it broke at 7:30 p.m. on Saturday, July 26, at Columbia’s Missouri Theatre. The concert is free and open to the public. Callister is a composer, music technologist, and guitarist from Ithaca, NY. His music draws influence from electronic and noise music while also operating in a contemporary music idiom. Compositional interests include close-mic amplification, spectral harmony, and the…
July 21, 2025
Five Questions for MICF Resident Composer Bobby Ge
Bobby Ge is one of eight Resident Composers selected to participate in the 2025 Mizzou International Composers Festival. MICF Resident Ensemble Alarm Will Sound will perform his composition You Are a Topological Donut at 7:30 p.m. on Saturday, July 26, at Columbia’s Missouri Theatre. The concert is free and open to the public. Ge is an American-born, Shanghai-raised composer and media artist whose work engages with themes of communication, home, and hybridity. Described as “expressive and gripping” [Financial Times] and “exciting, frenzied, unpredictable” [CityNews CBR], his work is…