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…
Feb. 18, 2025
2025 Sinquefield Prize winner Giovanni Porfirio invited to perform at Brazilian Legion of Good Will event in New York City
Giovanni Porfirio, the 2025 Sinquefield Composition Prize winner, has been invited to perform at the opening of the Brazilian Legion of Good Will’s new offices in New York City on Monday, March 10. The Legion of Good Will (LGW) is a nonprofit organization dedicated to providing educational and social assistance programs for economically disadvantaged communities. It was founded in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, on January 1, 1950 by poet and radio broadcaster Alziro Zarur, and established in New York in 1986. Giovanni Porfirio and Dr. Jeanne Sinquefield at the Sinquefield Prize award dinner on Nov.
Jan. 30, 2025
Mizzou International Composers Festival Announces Resident Composers for 2025
The Mizzou New Music Initiative (MNMI) and Alarm Will Sound have selected eight Resident Composers to participate in the 2025 Mizzou International Composers Festival (MICF). Presented by the MNMI and the University of Missouri School of Music from Monday, July 21 through Saturday, July 26, 2025, in Columbia, the sixteenth annual MICF will feature world premieres of new works written by each of the selected composers. Listed with their birthplaces, they are: Amy Brandon (Prince Edward Island, Canada)Chris Thompson (Savannah, GA)Daniel Reza Sabzghabaei (Denton, TX)Geli Li (Guangzhou, China)|Matt Smith (San Diego, CA)Parker Callister (Ithaca, NY)Seda Balci (Eskişehir, Turkey)Robert Ge (Atlanta,…
Jan. 21, 2025
Mizzou student Seda Balci featured on the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra’s SLSO Stories blog
Mizzou student Seda Balci, a composer and pianist, was recently featured on the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra’s SLSO Stories blog. Balci’s piece Adieu to the Moon will be given its world premier performance at 7:30 p.m. January 30 as part of the SLSO’s “Live at the Sheldon” chamber-music series. The series is an ongoing collaboration between the SLSO and the Mizzou New Music Initiative. The January 30 concert, held at The Sheldon Concert Hall in St. Louis, is curated by the orchestra’s bass clarinetist…
Jan. 16, 2025
Top Performers, Composers, and Internationally Renowned Artists to be Showcased at Nine Upcoming Mizzou New Music Initiative Concerts in Columbia
The Mizzou New Music Initiative (MNMI) will present nine concerts this winter and spring in Columbia that will showcase the program’s newest musical groups and composers along with internationally renowned artists. MNMI is a diverse array of programs that position the University of Missouri School of Music as a leading center for the composition and performance of new music. The initiative is supported by the Sinquefield Charitable Foundation, led by Dr. Jeanne and Rex Sinquefield. Their vision is to create an incubator for the composition and performance of new music and to showcase Missouri as a center for the music…
Jan. 16, 2025
NEW YORK-BASED CHAMBER ORCHESTRA ALARM WILL SOUND TO PERFORM GROUNDBREAKING CONTEMPORARY MUSIC CONCERT IN COLUMBIA
Nationally recognized chamber-music orchestra Alarm Will Sound will present an evening of groundbreaking contemporary classical music in Columbia on January 21, 2025, featuring works by composers Oscar Bettison, Brittany J. Green, and Nnux, whose bold and imaginative creations redefine the boundaries of contemporary music. Titled New Voices, New Perspectives and presented by the Mizzou New Music Initiative (MNMI), the 7:30 pm concert at the Sinquefield Music Center will bring together diverse voices and perspectives, offering powerful meditations on identity, memory, and humanity’s shared experiences.
Nov. 18, 2024
Giovanni Porfirio wins 2025 Sinquefield Composition Prize: New composition to be premiered at Chancellor’s Arts Showcase
The University of Missouri School of Music and the Mizzou New Music Initiative haveawarded the 2025 Sinquefield Composition Prize to student composer GiovanniPorfirio. The prize is the top award for a composition student at Mizzou. Porfirio is a composer from Sao Paulo, Brazil, and earned a bachelor’s degree from SaoPaulo State University. He is currently pursuing a master’s degree at the University of Missouri. As the Sinquefield Composition Prize winner, Porfirio will receive a $2,500 scholarshipand be commissioned to write a new work for the University Philharmonic Orchestra, which willpremier to…