July 21, 2016
Composers Festival spotlight: Wang A Mao
Coming originally from China, Wang A Mao had to travel a long way from home to study composing in the United States. But her journey to Columbia to serve as one of the eight resident composers for this year’s Mizzou International Composers Festival was considerably shorter, for as the latest festival participant from the University of Missouri-Kansas City Conservatory of Music and Dance, she only had to travel another hundred miles or so down the road. Wang (pictured) earned her bachelor of arts in composition at the Central Conservatory of Music in Beijing, and…
July 20, 2016
Jacob Gotlib hired as new managing director for Mizzou New Music Initiative
The University of Missouri School of Music has hired Jacob Gotlib to be the new managing director of the Mizzou New Music Initiative. Gotlib, who earned his Ph.D in composition in 2015 from the State University of New York at Buffalo, will start work at Mizzou on Monday, August 15. As managing director, he will oversee all programs and operations of the Mizzou New Music Initiative, including the Mizzou International Composers Festival, Creating Original Music Project (COMP), the Missouri Composers Orchestra Project (MOCOP), and more. Currently living in Louisville, KY, Gotlib (pictured) already has some familiarity…
July 20, 2016
Composers Festival spotlight: Trey Makler
Originally from Farmington, Missouri, Trey Makler is Mizzou’s representative among this year’s group of eight resident composers at the Mizzou International Composers Festival. Makler (pictured) just completed his senior year in Columbia, earning his bachelor’s degree studying composition with Stefan Freund and oboe with Dan Willett. While an undergraduate, he has served as vice-president of the Mizzou Composers Guild and president of the Zeta Chapter of Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia national music fraternity, and he’s also quite familiar with the MICF, having been a production coordinator for the festival for the past three…
July 19, 2016
Composers Festival spotlight: Erin Gee
The innovative composer of vocal music Erin Gee is one of the two distinguished guest composers at this year’s Mizzou International Composers Festival. In that capacity, she’ll give a public presentation on her music; teach and interact informally with the festival’s eight resident composers; and be in the audience for performances of her work in concerts by Alarm Will Sound on Thursday night and the Mizzou New Music Ensemble on Friday night. Currently an assistant professor of composition at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Gee (pictured) is known particularly for her series of…
July 18, 2016
Composers Festival spotlight: Ryan Lindveit
Resident composer Ryan Lindveit comes to this summer’s Mizzou International Composers Festival with a brand new bachelor of music degree in composition from the University of Southern California’s Thornton School of Music, from which he graduated summa cum laude this spring and was selected as Salutatorian for the class of 2016. Lindveit (pictured) also was named this year’s “Outstanding Graduate” from the Thornton School of Music and received both the Composition Department Award and the USC Discovery Scholars Prize, a competitive postgraduate grant awarded to ten graduating seniors for the creation of outstanding original work…
July 18, 2016
Composers Festival spotlight: Missouri Saxophone Quartet
In addition to a performance by the Mizzou New Music Ensemble, the Friday night concert of the Mizzou International Composers Festival usually features one or more guest artists, and this year’s “Mizzou New Music” concert will include some selections from the Missouri Saxophone Quartet. Formed in 2009, the MSQ includes Leo Saguiguit (soprano sax), Adrianne Honnold (alto sax), Joel Vanderheyden (tenor sax), and Matthew Kendrick (baritone sax). Collectively, they play a variety of musical styles, from baroque transcriptions and traditional French repertoire to jazz, tango, and avant-garde, but are particularly “devoted to exploring and promoting…
July 15, 2016
Composers Festival spotlight: Mary Kouyoumdjian
Although composer Mary Kouyoumdjian was born in the USA, her music definitely is informed by perspectives from beyond its’ borders. As a first generation Armenian-American from a family directly affected by the Lebanese civil war and Armenian genocide, Kouyoumdjian uses a sonic palette that, in her words, “draws on her heritage, interest in music as documentary, and background in experimental composition to progressively blend the old with the new.” Based in Brooklyn, New York, Kouyoumdjian (pictured) is one of the eight resident composers for the 2016 Mizzou International Composers Festival, for which she’s written a…
July 13, 2016
2016 Mizzou International Composers Festival
schedule of events and ticket information
Here’s the complete schedule of events and information on how to get tickets for the 2016 Mizzou International Composers Festival. The 2016 MICF begins on Monday, July 25 and continues through Saturday, July 30. Festival events will be held at the Fine Arts Building and Loeb Hall on the University of Missouri campus and at the Missouri Theatre in downtown Columbia, including: Monday, July 25 10:00 a.m. – 11:00 a.m. Matthew Browne, Resident Composer Presentation Fine Arts Building Room 145 on the MU campus Open to the Public 11:00 a.m. – 12:00…