July 19, 2021
Composers Festival spotlight: Andrew Tholl
Andrew Tholl comes to the 2021 MICF from Los Angeles, CA, where he works as a violinist, composer, drummer, and improvisor. He holds degrees from Arizona State University, University of Michigan, and the California Institute of the Arts, and has served on the faculty at CalArts, Moorpark College, Ventura College, The Kadima Conservatory of Music, and Harmony Project. Tholl’s performances and compositions have been heard across the United States and Europe, as he “continues to be involved with music for concert halls, art galleries, films, puppet shows, bars, garages, bedrooms, and coat closets.” As…
July 16, 2021
Composers Festival spotlight: DM R
2021 MICF resident composer DM R (Diana M. Rodriguez) was born and raised in Bogotá, Colombia, has lived in Miami and Boston, and currently is based in New York City, where she is a doctoral candidate at Columbia University. She previously earned a master’s degree from the Boston Conservatory and a bachelor’s degree from the New World School of the Arts at the University of Florida. DM R (pictured) is a composer of electroacoustic music, influenced variously by pop culture, Colombian folk, Rock en Español, and more. She also is a concert series curator for…
July 15, 2021
Composers Festival spotlight: Daniel Fitzpatrick
The University of Missouri’s representative among the resident composers at this year’s MICF is Daniel Fitzpatrick, who currently is studying for his master’s in composition at Mizzou. Fitzpatrick also is a music technology graduate assistant and has served as the pianist of the Mizzou New Music Ensemble. A native of Wentzville, MO, he earned his bachelor of music degree at Southeast Missouri State University. For the MICF, he has written a new work titled “Adapt,” which will be performed by Alarm Will Sound as part of the “World Premieres I” online concert on Tuesday, July 27. A multi-instrumentalist…
July 14, 2021
Composers Festival spotlight: Khemia Ensemble
Khemia Ensemble in 2021 will be part of the Mizzou International Composers Festival for the the third consecutive year, performing as part of the “Mizzou New Music” online concert on Wednesday, July 28. Their performance will include the premieres of new works by Mizzou professor and MNMI artistic director Stefan Freund, MNMI’s former post-doctoral fellow Phillip Sink, and 2021 MICF resident composer Nina Shekhar. Khemia (pictured) is “a contemporary chamber ensemble focused on championing the works of living composers through vivid, multimedia performances.” With an original lineup of musicians featuring members from four different…
July 13, 2021
Composers Festival spotlight: Celka Ojakangas
Resident composer Celka Ojakangas comes to the 2021 Mizzou International Composers Festival from Los Angeles, CA, where she currently is pursuing her doctorate at the University of Southern California, while also serving as a part-time professor of music at Occidental College. The festival also will be a homecoming of sorts for Ojakangas, a Missouri native who was raised in Springfield and earned her bachelor’s degree at Drury University before heading west. Active as a composer, conductor, and performer, Ojakangas (pictured) creates music that “plays with hybridism and recontextualization, intentionally exploring and blurring the…
July 12, 2021
Composers Festival spotlight: Karim Sulayman
The Mizzou New Music Initiative will welcome tenor Karim Sulayman as a guest performer for the 2021 Mizzou International Composers Festival. Sulayman (pictured) will appear with resident ensemble Alarm Will Sound when they premiere the first part of distinguished guest composer David T. Little’s monodrama “What Belongs to You” as part of the “World Premieres I” online concert on Tuesday, July 27. The winner of the 2019 GRAMMY® Award for “Best Classical Solo Vocal,” Sulayman has earned international acclaim for his programming and recording projects, while regularly performing around the world in opera, orchestral concerts, recital…
July 9, 2021
Composers Festival spotlight: Shuying Li
Resident composer Shuying Li comes to the 2021 Mizzou International Composers Festival from Spokane, WA, where since 2020 she has served as assistant professor of composition and music theory at Gonzaga University. Yet her musical journey actually began years ago and much further away, at the Shanghai Conservatory of Music in her native China. In her sophomore year there, Shuying (pictured) won a scholarship to continue her undergraduate studies at The Hartt School in Connecticut. She went on to earn doctoral and master’s degrees from the University of Michigan, She continues to be a research…
July 8, 2021
Composers Festival spotlight: Paul Mortilla
When Paul Mortilla began his studies at Indiana University’s Jacobs School of Music in 2014, he already had more experience and training as a composer than most undergraduates. That’s because Mortilla, a Florida native who is one of nine resident composers for the 2021 Mizzou International Composers Festival, actually began writing original music on his own at the precocious age of 11, drawing on a eclectic variety of influences ranging from church hymns to electronic dance music. A couple of years later, he began studying formally with faculty members from the University of Miami’s Frost School of Music. Mortilla…