July 15, 2015
Composers Festival spotlight: Justin Pounds
Resident composer Justin Pounds is the University of Missouri’s representative at the 2015 Mizzou International Composers Festival, and along with Christopher Stark, one of two resident composers this year with ties to Missouri and St. Louis. A St. Louis native who grew up in the suburb of Oakville, Pounds earned his bachelor of music degree at Mizzou, and currently is pursuing a master of music in composition, studying with Dr. Thomas McKenney and Dr. Stefan Freund. This past November, his chamber opera “The Outlaw” was premiered by at Mizzou by the Show-Me Opera. Pounds also…
July 15, 2015
Composers Festival spotlight: Alessandro Ratoci
Alessandro Ratoci has the longest journey of any of this year’s resident composers to get to the 2015 Mizzou International Composers Festival, coming to Columbia from Lausanne, Switzerland, where he teaches electronic music at the Haute Ecole de Musique de Genève (Geneva University of Music). Born in Tuscany, Italy, Ratoci majored in composition, piano, and electronic music at the University of Bologna, and then went on to earn his master’s degree in composition at Geneva University of Music, studying with Michael Jarrell, Luis Naón and Eric Daubresse. He then moved to Paris…
July 14, 2015
Composers Festival spotlight: Christopher Stark
Christopher Stark is one of eight resident composers for the 2015 Mizzou International Composers Festival, and, along with Mizzou’s Justin Pounds, one of two resident composers this year with ties to Missouri and the St. Louis area. Currently an assistant professor of composition at Washington University in St. Louis, Stark is a native of Polson, Montana who describes his music as being “deeply rooted in the American West” and “seeking to capture the expansive energy of this quintessential American landscape.” His honors and awards include the Underwood Commission from the American Composers Orchestra, the prix…
July 14, 2015
Composers Festival spotlight: Emily Koh
Resident composer Emily Koh comes to the 2015 Mizzou International Composers Festival by way of Singapore, her place of birth, and Boston, where she currently is a Ph.D. candidate in composition and theory at Brandeis University. A bassist as well as a composer, Koh also serves as a visiting faculty member at the Longy School of Music of Bard College, director of concert series at the Boston New Music Initiative, and principal bass for the New England Philharmonic. Her music is characterized by timbral extremes, and has been described as “beautifully eerie” (New York Times), and “subtly…
July 13, 2015
Composers Festival spotlight: DRAX
Formed in fall 2014, DRAX is the newest faculty ensemble-in-residence at the University of Missouri, and they’ll be making their Mizzou International Composers Festival debut as guest artists for the “Mizzou New Music” concert on Friday, July 24 at the Missouri Theatre. As the latest addition to the growing new music scene at Mizzou, the duo of percussionist Megan Arns and saxophonist Leo Saguiguit intends to explore the existing repertoire for saxophone and percussion duo as well as commission new works. They’ve already made their its international debut at the 2015 World Saxophone…
July 10, 2015
Composers Festival spotlight: Andrew Norman
Along with Hans Abrahamsen, the Mizzou New Music Initiative is pleased to welcome Andrew Norman as one of our two distinguished guest composers for the 2015 Mizzou International Composers Festival. Currently an assistant professor of composition at the University of Southern California’s Thornton School of Music, Norman (pictured) is a graduate of Yale and the University of Southern California. He is the recipient of numerous honors and awards, including the 2006 Rome Prize and the 2009 Berlin Prize, and in 2012 was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize in Music for his string trio…
July 10, 2015
MICF on TV
Along with such familiar public TV fare as Charlie Rose and Great Performances, Missourians who tune into their local PBS affiliate over the next couple of weeks may see an ad for the Mizzou International Composers Festival. The :30 spot will run on KETC in St. Louis, KCPT in Kansas City, and KMOS in Jefferson City/Columbia, as well as on YouTube. The ad presents a quick-cut look at the MICF’s resident ensemble Alarm Will Sound in performance, underscored by “Fuse,” which was written for last year’s festival by Kansas Citian and 2014 resident composer Nicholas Omiccioli.
July 8, 2015
If you’re coming to Columbia
If you’re planning on coming to Columbia for the 2015 Mizzou International Composers Festival, you can get advance tickets online for all three concerts, which will be presented again this year at the Missouri Theatre: Thursday, July 23: Alarm Will Sound Friday, July 24: Mizzou New Music Saturday, July 25: Eight World Premieres Also, you may find these links useful for planning and/or during your visit: Visitors information Columbia Convention and Visitors Bureau University of Missouri Visitors Guide Columbia Regional Airport Vox Magazine’s guide…