July 15, 2014
Composers Festival Spotlight: Ian Dicke
Ian Dicke Resident composer Ian Dicke comes to this year’s Mizzou International Composers Festival from the University of California, Riverside, where he just completed his first year as an assistant professor of digital composition. A native of New Jersey, Ian earned degrees in music from the University of Texas at Austin (D.M.A), University of Michigan (M.M.), and San Francisco Conservatory of Music (B.M.). In addition to teaching and composing, he also helps run two presenting organizations, founding and curating the Outpost Concert Series in Riverside while also continuing to co-direct the annual music festival…
July 14, 2014
Composers Festival Spotlight: Holly Harrison
Holly Harrison Holly Harrison is the first-ever MICF resident composer to come from Australia, where she was was born and raised, and currently is studying for a Doctorate of Creative Arts in Composition at the University of Western Sydney. She previously graduated from the University’s bachelor of music program with the University Medal for outstanding academic achievement. Holly’s music is “driven by the nonsense literature of Lewis Carroll, embracing stylistic juxtapositions, the visceral energy of rock, and whimsical humour.” The first and last of those qualities certainly are reflected in the name of the piece she’s…
July 14, 2014
Composers Festival Spotlight: Michael Schacter
Michael SchachterMichael Schacter is one of eight resident composers at the 2014 Mizzou International Composers Festival, and comes to Columbia from Ann Arbor, MI, where he currently is working towards a Ph.D. in music theory and composition at the University of Michigan. Originally from Massachusetts and an enthusiastic Red Sox fan, Michael is a pianist as well as a composer whose music draws from “an eclectic brew of influences including jazz and New Orleans, Renaissance polyphony, Jewish liturgy and klezmer, and South Indian classical music.” He earned his BA in 2009 from Harvard, where he directed…
July 9, 2014
Zhou Long to serve as guest composer
for 2014 Mizzou International Composers Festival;
Beat Furrer unable to attend for medical reasons
The Mizzou New Music Initiative announced today that Swiss composer Beat Furrer, who had been scheduled to be one of the guest composers later this month at the 2014 Mizzou International Composers Festival, will be unable to attend the festival due to medical reasons. In place of Furrer, Pulitzer Prize-winning composer Zhou Long, Distinguished Professor of Music at the University of Missouri-Kansas City Conservatory of Music and Dance, has agreed to serve as a guest composer for the 2014 MICF. “We regret that Beat Furrer won’t be able to participate in this year’s festival, as his doctor has…
July 8, 2014
Composers Festival Spotlight: Alarm Will Sound
Alarm Will Sound It’s been a busy year for Alarm Will Sound since the last Mizzou International Composers Festival. For starters, the MICF’s resident ensemble (pictured) recently completed a year-long residency at New York City’s Metropolitan Museum of Art, performing there four times during the 2013-14 presenting season. The concerts at the Met included “Permanent Collection,” revisiting key works written for the sinfonietta throughout musical history, in October; an all-Steve Reich program in November; a collaboration with Dance Heginbotham in February; and “I Was Here I Was I,” a music and theater piece composed by Kate…
July 7, 2014
If you’re coming to Columbia…
If you’re planning coming to Columbia for the 2014 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 24: Alarm Will Sound Friday, July 25: Mizzou New Music Saturday, July 26: 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 to…
May 27, 2014
Tickets now on sale for 2014 Mizzou International Composers Festival
concerts on July 24, 25 & 26 at Missouri Theatre
Alarm Will Sound Tickets are now on sale for the 2014 Mizzou International Composers Festival’s concerts on Thursday, July 24; Friday, July 25; and Saturday, July 26. Celebrating its fifth anniversary in 2014, the Mizzou International Composers Festival will take place starting Monday, July 21 through Saturday, July 26 in Columbia. Already considered one of the most noteworthy contemporary music events in the Midwest, the MICF attracts attention from composers, musicians, music educators, and media around the world. Once again, the grand finale of the week will feature the world premieres of eight new works written by…
April 25, 2014
Mizzou composers, New Music Ensemble
develop new works inspired by Forest Park
Forest Park in St. Louis is the site of all sorts of musical performances, from the sounds of Broadway at the Muny to the St. Louis Symphony’s annual concert on Art Hill to the rock, pop and hip-hop of LouFest, and more. Now, the park itself has become the subject of music, as four Mizzou students have been commissioned by the Sinquefield Charitable Foundation to compose new works for the Mizzou New Music Ensemble to perform at “The Sounds of Forest Park,” a private event next month for members of Forest Park Forever‘s Leffingwell Society. In February,…