Nov. 20, 2017
Mizzou International Composers Festival gets submissions from around the world
With a flurry of last-minute activity, a total of 244 composers from around the world applied for the eight resident composer spots at the 2018 Mizzou International Composers Festival. Submissions were received from 22 different countries, including Argentina, Australia, Austria, Canada, China, Colombia, Costa Rica, Cyprus, Finland, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Japan, Mexico, the Philippines, Russia, South Africa, South Korea, Sweden, Thailand, the United Kingdom, and the United States. The 2018 MICF is scheduled for July 23 – 28 on the University of Missouri campus and at the Missouri Theatre in Columbia, and will feature Chen Yi and…
Nov. 14, 2017
Mizzou New Music Ensemble presenting “Words and Music” and more on Sunday, December 3 at Whitmore Recital Hall
The Mizzou New Music Ensemble will premiere new works by seven different Mizzou composers in a concert at 7:30 p.m. Sunday, December 3 at Whitmore Recital Hall, 135 Fine Arts Building on the Mizzou campus. Admission is $5 for the general public, free for Mizzou faculty, students and staff with ID. The full Ensemble (pictured) will present the premiere performances of “notfromme” by Mikkel Christensen, a first-year master’s student; “Night Blossoms,” by senior composition major Ben Colagiovanni; “If you have nothing nice to say [say it softly],” by Libby Roberts, also a first-year master’s student and the pianist for…
Nov. 6, 2017
Chen Yi to serve as distinguished guest composer for 2018 Mizzou International Composers Festival
The Mizzou New Music Initiative will welcome Chen Yi as a distinguished guest composer at the 2018 Mizzou International Composers Festival (MICF), scheduled for Monday, July 23 through Saturday, July 28 on the campus of the University of Missouri in Columbia. Chen (pictured) is a distinguished professor of composition at the Conservatory of Music and Dance at the University of Missouri-Kansas City. A finalist for the 2006 Pulitzer Prize for Music for her composition “Si Ji” (“Four Seasons”), she was born and raised in Guangzhou, China and is known as a prolific composer who blends Chinese and…
Nov. 1, 2017
Alarm Will Sound to play free concert on Wednesday, December 6 at Missouri Theatre
Alarm Will Sound is returning to Columbia to perform at 7:00 p.m. Wednesday, December 6 at the Missouri Theatre, 203 S. 9th St. Admission to the concert is free and open to the public. As the resident ensemble for the annual Mizzou International Composers Festival (MICF), Alarm Will Sound (pictured) has been playing in mid-Missouri since 2010, and five of the six composers whose works they’ll perform in December at the Missouri Theatre have a connection to the MICF. Two of the works were created specifically for the festival by past resident composers. “Paper Pianos I. You…
Oct. 19, 2017
2018 Mizzou International Composers Festival set for July 23 – 28; applications for eight resident composers now open
The Mizzou New Music Initiative is now accepting applications for eight resident composers to take part in the 2018 Mizzou International Composers Festival (MICF), which will be held Monday, July 23 through Saturday, July 28 on the campus of the University of Missouri in Columbia. Alex Mincek (pictured) will serve as one of the MICF’s two distinguished guest composers, teaching and consulting with the resident composers and ensemble. The second distinguished guest composer will be announced at a later date. The MICF features three public concerts of music from contemporary composers, as well as workshops, master classes, and…
Oct. 16, 2017
JACK Quartet coming to Mizzou for residency, concert on Friday, October 27
The acclaimed new music group JACK Quartet is coming to the University of Missouri for a two-day residency, culminating in a concert at 7:30 p.m. Friday, October 27 at Whitmore Recital Hall. Admission to the concert is $5 at the door for the general public, free to Mizzou students, faculty and staff with ID. In addition to the concert, while they’re on campus the quartet (pictured) will have coaching sessions with the university’s graduate string quartet and Mizzou New Music Ensemble, and take part in a convocation with the entire School of Music. They also will present a…
Oct. 11, 2017
Missouri student composers are eligible for awards, cash prizes from Mizzou’s Creating Original Music Project (COMP)
While the tools for writing music have evolved over time – from pen, paper and piano to computers, samples and synthesizers – young composers today still face the same challenge they’ve had for hundreds of years: getting their music heard. That ‘s why the Mizzou New Music Initiative began the Creating Original Music Project (COMP). Now in its 13th year, COMP is an annual statewide competition that showcases new, original music from Missouri student composers and songwriters in grades K-12, offering positive recognition and prizes, performance and educational opportunities, and more. Sponsored by the University of Missouri School of…
Oct. 2, 2017
Aaron Mencher wins 2018 Sinquefield Composition Prize
The University of Missouri School of Music and the Mizzou New Music Initiative have awarded the 2018 Sinquefield Composition Prize to Aaron Mencher. Mencher (pictured) is a junior and Sinquefield Scholar at Mizzou, studying composition with Carolina Heredia. He submitted “Bluish Orange,” a work written for flute, clarinet, and saxophone, to the competition and was selected for the prize by a panel of independent judges. The adjudicators for the 2018 competition were Jennifer Jolley, assistant professor of composition at Ohio Wesleyan University; LJ White, lecturer in composition at Washington University; and Yoshiaki Onishi, a freelance composer in Columbia, MO.