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…
July 25, 2014
More media mention MICF
Media attention for the 2014 Mizzou International Composers Festival continued into the week of the fest, with St. Louis magazine publishing a preview story, including quotes from guest composers Zhou Long and Nico Muhly, online on Wednesday. Then on Thursday, the Columbia Missourian ran their story about the festival, while a separate feature in the accompanying Vox Magazine focused on three of this year’s resident composers. On Friday, the festival was featured in a report on the morning newscast of local NBC affiliate KOMU. As for the photo accompanying this post,…
July 22, 2014
Composers Festival Spotlight: Zhou Long
Zhou Long It’s an honor to have Zhou Long as one of the two guest composers at this year’s Mizzou International Composers Festival. Currently the Distinguished Professor of Music at the University of Missouri-Kansas City Conservatory of Music and Dance, Zhou won the Pulitzer Prize in music in 2011 for his opera “Madame White Snake.” He graciously agreed to serve as one of this year’s guest composers on short notice after Beat Furrer, who originally had been scheduled to appear, was unable to attend for medical reasons. During the MICF, he will give a public…
July 21, 2014
Columbia media previews 2014 MICF
With the 2014 Mizzou International Composers Festival starting today, the Columbia Daily Tribune had two stories in Sunday’s paper, plus another online, which together offer a thorough preview of the week’s events. The Tribune‘s Aarik Danielsen interviewed managing director Billy Lackey and resident composer José MartÃnez for an overview of the festival, and also wrote separate articles about guest composer Nico Muhly and resident composer Nicholas Omiccioli. Also last week, Mizzou professor, MICF co-artistic director and Alarm Will Sound cellist Stefan Freund appeared on KBIA’s “Radio Friends with Paul Pepper” to talk…
July 20, 2014
Composers Festival Spotlight: Nico Muhly
Nico Muhly It’s a great pleasure to have Nico Muhly as one of the two guest composers for the 2014 Mizzou International Composers Festival. One of the most talked-about individuals on the contemporary music scene, often provocative and occasionally controversial, Muhly will work with the MICF’s eight resident composers both as a group and individually during the festival. He’ll give a free public presentation on his music at 7:00 p.m. on Tuesday in the Fine Arts Building on campus, and also will be present at the Missouri Theatre for performances of his “Seeing is Believing” by…
July 19, 2014
Composers Festival Spotlight: Christopher Weiss
Christopher Weiss 2014 MICF resident composer Christopher Weiss may have been born in Portsmouth, New Hampshire and grown up in the northeast, but as it turns out, his musical beginnings have a connection to the Show-Me State. His paternal grandfather, a fisheries biologist here in Missouri, was an amateur violin-maker who enjoyed experimenting by constructing violins using unconventional woods. When Christopher was five, his grandfather presented him with a handmade, one-quarter-size violin, and he began taking his first music lessons. Christopher taught himself to play the piano at age 12, and first developed an interest in…