April 11, 2018

Mizzou New Music Initiative awards postdoctoral fellowship to Yoshiaki Onishi

The Mizzou New Music Initiative (MNMI) and the University of Missouri School of Music have awarded a postdoctoral fellowship to composer Yoshiaki “Yoshi” Onishi. Starting with the Fall 2018 semester and continuing for two years, Onishi will teach private composition lessons, composition seminar, and freshman ear training to Mizzou students; serve as assistant conductor for the Mizzou New Music Ensemble; and assist with various MNMI programs. He also will begin a major research project to be completed during the two years of his fellowship. Onishi (pictured) made news last week when he was awarded a 2018…

April 6, 2018

St. Louis Symphony Orchestra musicians to perform three new works by Mizzou composers on Sunday, April 29 at Powell Hall

Dustin Dunn, Aaron Mencher and Douglas Osmun Members of the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra, led by the SLSO’s resident conductor Gemma New, will perform three new works by student composers from the University of Missouri School of Music at 2:30 p.m. Sunday, April 29 at Powell Hall in St. Louis. Admission to the performance is free and open to the public, but those wishing to attend are requested to RSVP via the SLSO’s website at https://www.slso.org/en/com/community_concerts/community-events/mizzou-composers/. The event is the culmination of a year-long collaboration between the SLSO and the Mizzou New Music Initiative, with funding from…

April 2, 2018

Composer Jonathan Newman to visit Mizzou for residency

Composer Jonathan Newman is coming to Columbia this month for a residency at the School of Music. Newman (pictured), who is director of composition and coordinator of new music at Shenandoah Conservatory in Winchester, VA,  will visit Mizzou from Wednesday, April 25 through Friday, April 27. While he’s on campus, his activities will include coaching the Mizzou New Music Ensemble in rehearsal; giving composition lessons and a presentation on his works; and attending the concert by the Mizzou Wind Ensemble on Friday at the Missouri Theatre. Wind and educational ensembles around the world frequently perform Newman’s…

March 22, 2018

Trey Makler selected for Juilliard’s OperaComp program

Mizzou composition alumnus Trey Makler has been selected as one of the composers for the 2018 season of OperaComp, The Juilliard School’s “incubator of revolutionary opera from the next generation of composers and writers.” Makler (pictured) graduated from Mizzou in 2016 and now is living in New York City, studying for an MM in composition at Juilliard. He’s one of six composers taking part in this year’s OperaComp program, for which he has written original music for a scene from “Let Them Eat Cake,” a new short play by librettist and Juilliard playwriting program graduate Ted Malawer.

March 21, 2018

Mizzou’s COMP Festival to present award-winning works
from Missouri student composers on Saturday, April 21 in Columbia

Audio from the 2018 COMP Festival will stream live online on Saturday, April 21 The Mizzou New Music Initiative will showcase Missouri’s best young composers when the winning works from this year’s Creating Original Music Project (COMP) competition are performed at the 13th annual COMP Festival, held from 10:30 a.m. to 4:00 p.m., Saturday, April 21 in the Fine Arts Building on the campus of the University of Missouri. Admission is free and open to the public. The junior division concert, featuring works from elementary and middle school winners, begins at 10:30 a.m., with the senior division concert…

March 14, 2018

Carolina Heredia to join faculty of University of Missouri School of Music as assistant professor of composition

The University of Missouri School of Music will welcome Carolina Heredia as an assistant professor of composition starting with the fall semester in 2018. Currently a post-doctoral fellow with the Mizzou New Music Initiative, Heredia (pictured) first came to Columbia as one of the eight resident composers for the 2017 Mizzou International Composers Festival. In her new tenure-track job, she’ll teach individual lessons, lead and teach independent and collaborative intermedia projects, and continue to assist with various MNMI programs. “Carolina Heredia was the best fit for the job, and with that credential, we’re very pleased…

March 12, 2018

Mizzou New Music Initiative seeks high school students for Missouri Summer Composition Institute to be held June 24 – 30 at the University of Missouri

The Mizzou New Music Initiative is looking for Missouri high school students interested in music composition to attend the 2018 Missouri Summer Composition Institute, which will be held from Sunday, June 24 through Saturday, June 30 on the University of Missouri campus in Columbia. Known informally as “COMP Camp,” after MNMI’s annual Creating Original Music Project contest for student composers, the Institute is open to students entering grades 9-12 and entering college freshman. The week-long program offers young composers from across the state the opportunity to receive composition lessons from MU faculty, learn from and interact with other creative…

Feb. 27, 2018

Khemia Ensemble visiting Mizzou for residency, concert on Tuesday, March 6

The new music group Khemia Ensemble will visit Columbia next week for a residency that will include a concert at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, March 6 at Whitmore Recital Hall. Admission to the performance is free and open to the public. With eight instrumentalists, two resident composers, and a visual artist, Khemia Ensemble (pictured) will present a concert program including works by the group’s founders Carolina Heredia and Bret Bohman, plus a new piece by Mizzou’s Dustin Dunn and music by Andy Akiho, Marcos Balter, Luciano Berio, Pierre Jalbert, and Harold Meltzer. While they’re on campus, the…