
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…

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…