Nov. 18, 2014

Creating Original Music Project (C.O.M.P.) celebrates tenth year of prizes, recognition for Missouri student composers

Dr. Jeanne Sinquefield with multiple C.O.M.P. winner HyunJun Yoo of Columbia Over the past nine years, the Mizzou New Music Initiative’s Creating Original Music Project (C.O.M.P) has encouraged the musical dreams and aspirations of hundreds of K-12 students across Missouri. Now for its tenth year, the annual statewide competition sponsored by the University of Missouri School of Music and the Sinquefield Charitable Foundation once again is looking for new, original music from student composers and songwriters in the Show-Me State. Information was mailed last month to music teachers across the state inviting students to participate in the 2015…

Nov. 6, 2014

Mizzou composers, Stephens College choreographers
collaborating again for concerts on November 14, 15 & 16

Composers from the Mizzou New Music Initiative are working once again with choreographers and dancers from Stephens College to create original music for this year’s Senior Dance Concert at Stephens. The performances will take place at 7:30 p.m. Friday, November 14 and Saturday, November 15, and at 2:00 p.m. Sunday, November 16 at the Macklanburg Playhouse, 100 Willis Ave on the Stephens campus. Tickets are $8 for general admission, $6 for students and seniors, and can be purchased in advance at the Macklanburg Playhouse box office; by calling 573-876-7199; or at the door. Renewing the collaboration…

Oct. 23, 2014

2015 Mizzou International Composers Festival set for July 20 – 25;
Hans Abrahamsen, Andrew Norman named as guest composers

The 2015 Mizzou International Composers Festival (MICF) will be held Monday, July 20 through Saturday, July 25 on the campus of the University of Missouri in Columbia, and will feature Hans Abrahamsen and Andrew Norman as guest composers. The 2015 MICF will include a series of public concerts presenting music from contemporary composers, as well as workshops, master classes and other events. Saturday night’s grand finale at the Missouri Theatre will feature the world premieres of new works from each of the festival’s eight resident composers, with the acclaimed new music group Alarm Will Sound, conducted by artistic…

Oct. 13, 2014

Mizzou composer Trey Makler wins 2015 Sinquefield Composition Prize

Trey MaklerThe University of Missouri School of Music and the Mizzou New Music Initiative have awarded the 2015 Sinquefield Composition Prize to Trey Makler. Makler, a junior from Farmington, MO, is studying composition at Mizzou with W. Thomas McKenney and Stefan Freund. He submitted “Elysium,” a work for chamber ensemble, to the competition and was selected for the prize by a panel of independent judges. The adjudicators for the 2015 competition were Mara Gibson, associate teaching professor, UMKC Conservatory of Music and Dance ; Eric Honour, professor of music and director of the Center for Music…

Oct. 10, 2014

Mizzou New Music Ensemble to perform collaborative concert
with Rich Pellegrin Quintet on Friday, October 24 at Whitmore Recital Hall

Rich PellegrinThe Mizzou New Music Ensemble will perform their first concert of the 2014-15 academic year at 7:30 p.m., Friday, October 24 in Whitmore Recital Hall, 135 Fine Arts Building on the University of Missouri campus. Admission is free for Mizzou students, $5 suggested donation for the general public. Presented in conjunction with the three-day Mizzou Improvisation Project conference happening that week, the program will feature a joint performance with the Rich Pellegrin Quintet. Pellegrin, a jazz pianist and composer, is an assistant professor of music theory at Mizzou. The two groups will collaborate on his 2012…

Sep. 26, 2014

MNMI helps create audio tours for community arts project in Lexington, MO

The Lexington Community Arts Pilot Project and the University of Missouri Extension Division will present the premiere of “Legends of Lexington,” four audio tours of the historic districts of Lexington, MO featuring music, sound and production by composers from the Mizzou New Music Initiative, at a reception this Friday, September 26 at Wentworth Military Academy in Lexington. The audio tours are part of a two-year program to help Lexington brand itself as a destination for tourists and artists. MNMI managing director William Lackey and Justin Pounds, who’s working on his master’s in composition at Mizzou, have spent the…

Aug. 1, 2014

A look back at the 2014 Mizzou International Composers Festival

Here’s a comprehensive look back at this year’s Mizzou International Composers Festival via news coverage and social media: [View the story “Mizzou International Composers Festival 2014” on Storify]…

July 30, 2014

Even more media coverage of the 2014 MICF

With the 2014 Mizzou International Composers Festival now over, there still are a few items of media coverage of the festival to share. In addition to their preview story on the 2014 Mizzou International Composers Festival (linked here), Vox magazine sent writer Caleb O’Brien to the festival’s grand finale on Saturday night, and his recap of the evening can be read online here. If you’d like to get a pictorial look behind the scenes of the 2014 MICF, resident ensemble Alarm Will Sound has posted on their Facebook page two albums of…