Aug. 9, 2023
Premieres of works by Resident and Guest composers among the highlights of the 2023 Mizzou International Composers Festival
The 2023 Mizzou International Composers Festival wrapped up on Saturday, July 29, with a concert at Columbia’s Missouri Theater. It featured world premieres of new works by eight MICF Resident Composers, performed by Ensemble-in-Residence Alarm Will Sound. The Resident Composers are Santiago Beis, Chen Yihan, Peter Fahey, Sophie Mathieu, Ali Can Puskulcu, Kelley Sheehan, Trevor Van de Velde, and Max Vinetz. Resident Composer Santiago Beis, Guest Composer Tania León, MNMI Music Director Stefan Freund The Festival, which opened on July 26, also included premieres of two works by the Festival’s Guest Composers: Tania León’s Gran Toque (arranged by…
July 11, 2023
2023 Resident Composer Spotlight: Trevor Van de Velde
Trevor Van de Velde is one of eight Resident Composers selected for the 2023 Mizzou International Composers Festival from among 500 applicants, 28% of which are from outside the USA. Van de Velde is an experimental composer, sound artist, instrument builder, and creative programmer based in New York City and San Francisco. In his work, he explores the relationship between technology, play, and hybridity through electroacoustic composition, custom-built electronics, and mixed media. Trevor Van de Velde He is the recipient of the 2018 Nicola De Lorenzo Prize in Music Composition, 2020 Eisner Prize for the Creative…
July 11, 2023
2023 Resident Composer Spotlight: Santiago Beis
Santiago Beis is one of eight Resident Composers selected for the 2023 Mizzou International Composers Festival from among 500 applicants, 28% of which are from outside the USA, representing 49 countries. Beis is an Uru-Brazilian composer, pianist, audio designer, arranger, and artistic researcher. Santiago Beis He holds a Bachelor’s degree in composition with Maurício Dottori, Harry Crowl, Márcio Steuernagel, and Felipe de Almeida Ribeiro at Escola de Música e Belas Artes do Paraná – UNESPAR. While there, he worked with new music ensembles such as Orquestra de Câmara da Cidade de Curitiba, Ensemble Nova…
July 11, 2023
2023 Resident Composer Spotlight: Kelley Sheehan
Kelley Sheehan is one of eight Resident Composers selected for the 2023 Mizzou International Composers Festival from among 500 applicants, 28% of which are from outside the USA. Sheehan is a composer and computer musician moving between electro-acoustic, multimedia, and performance-art works. In any medium, her work constructs environments meant to merge electronic and acoustic forces into one composite organism, dependent on this merging to become more than just an extension of itself. Kelley Sheehan It has been described by composers Iannotta, Kyriakidesas & Stäbler as “Full of discovery, collaboration, and unpredictability” with “woozy electronics.” She was named prize winner…
July 11, 2023
2023 Resident Composer Spotlight: Ali Can Puskulcu
Ali Can Puskulcu is one of eight Resident Composers selected for the 2023 Mizzou International Composers Festival from among 500 applicants, 28% of which are from outside the USA. He is a Turkish-American composer, violinist, and multimedia artist whose works include pieces for solo artists, sinfonietta, chamber ensembles, and chorus, as well as video art installations, improvisations, and live performances. Ali Can Puskulcu Recently, Puskulcu was awarded a Charles Ives Scholarship Award from the American Academy of Arts and Letters and ASCAP/SEAMUS Commission Competition. Other accolades include a Fromm Foundation Commission from Harvard University and a…
July 7, 2023
Guest Composer Spotlight: Marcos Balter
The Mizzou New Music Initiative is pleased to welcome Marcos Balter as a Guest Composer for the 2023 Mizzou International Composers Festival. As part of MICF, he will present his music and work closely with the resident composers through private lessons and a workshop. Alarm Will Sound will perform the world premiere of Balter’s Code-Switching on Thursday, July 27 at 7:30 p.m. in the Missouri Theatre. On Friday, July 28 at 7:30 p.m., the Mizzou New Music Ensemble will perform his work Ligare, along with music by Tania León, Kevin Day, and Santiago Beis. Whether he’s composing works for solo…
July 7, 2023
Guest Composer Spotlight: Tania León
The Mizzou New Music Initiative is pleased to welcome Kennedy Center Honors recipient and Pulitzer Prize winner Tania León as a Guest Composer for the 2023 Mizzou International Composers Festival. As part of MICF, she will present her music and work closely with the resident composers through private lessons and a workshop. León’s music will also be featured in two concerts. On Thursday, July 27 at 7:30 p.m. in the Missouri Theatre, Alarm Will Sound will perform a new arrangement of Tania Leon’s Toque, which John Orfe arranged to become Gran Toque. For the second concert, the Mizzou New Music Ensemble…
July 5, 2023
2023 Resident Composer Spotlight: Sophie Mathieu
Sophie Mathieu is one of eight Resident Composers selected for the 2023 Mizzou International Composers Festival from among 500 applicants, 28% from outside USA representing 49 countries. Sophie Mathieu is a composer and cellist based in Austin, TX, currently pursuing a master’s degree in composition at the University of Texas. Sophie completed her undergraduate studies in composition at the University of Southern California. She currently studies with Omar Thomas, and her previous teachers include Ted Hearne, Andrew Norman, Donald Crockett, Yevgeniy Sharlat, and Russell Podgorsek. Mathieu’s work is ethereal and…