Summer Festival Spotlight: Brian Ciach

A skilled pianist as well as a composer, Brian Ciach has created a wide variety of original music, from solo piano pieces to orchestral works to electronic music. As one of the resident composers for the 2102 Mizzou New Music Summer Festival, Ciach (pronounced "SIGH-ack") has written a new piece for Alarm Will Sound called…

Summer Festival Spotlight: Anne-Carolyn Bird

The guest artist at this year's Mizzou New Music Summer Festival will be the talented soprano Anne-Carolyn Bird. Bird (pictured) will perform with Alarm Will Sound as part of the concert on Thursday, July 26, helping to bring to life the first part of Donnacha Dennehy's new work-in-progress, The Hunger. Known primarily as an operatic…

Patrick Clark on the YES Academy Concerts: 11 July 2012–Composers; Duhok, Iraq

Assuming the reaction of an audience is a barometer of the success of a concert, the closing concerts for the YES Academy 2012 in Duhok hit their intended marks quite well. As the inaugural composition teacher for the Academy I had a vested interest in the concert of works by the student composers and so…

Mizzou New Music Summer Festival to include free events

In addition to the ticketed concerts at the Missouri Theatre, the 2012 Mizzou New Music Summer Festival includes a number of events that are free of charge and open to the public. At 4:00 p.m. on Monday, July 23, guest composer Steven Stucky will present a master class with the vocal ensemble Voices of Prometheus…

Summer Festival Spotlight: Donnacha Dennehy

It is a privilege and a pleasure to have Donnacha Dennehy as one of the guest composers for the 2012 Mizzou New Music Summer Festival.  Along with fellow guest composer Steven Stucky, Dennehy will instruct and mentor the Festival's eight resident composers during their week in Columbia. He'll also oversee the world premiere of the…

Summer Festival Spotlight: David Crowell

While some of the resident composers for the 2012 Mizzou New Music Summer Festival are recent graduates or still studying for advanced degrees, saxophonist and composer David Crowell already is well along in his professional career. He has a very active schedule as a performer, touring with the famed Philip Glass Ensemble and leading his…

Columbia hotels offering discounts during Mizzou New Music Summer Festival

Planning on visiting Columbia for the 2012 Mizzou New Music Summer Festival? If so, you should know that three local hotels are offering discounts for the nights of July 26, 27 and 28 to Festival attendees. They are: Hampton Inn & Suites Columbia (at the University of Missouri) 1225 Fellow’s Place (College Ave. & Stadium…

Summer Festival Spotlight: Stephanie Berg

Today, let's get acquainted with one of the resident composers for the 2012 Mizzou New Music Summer Festival, Stephanie Berg. She's one of eight individuals to earn that designation this year, chosen from nearly 150 applicants from countries around the world, including Israel, France, Ireland, Spain, South Africa, Russia, England, Thailand, Canada and China. As…