Aug. 18, 2026
Katherine Balch and David Longstreth Named Distinguished Guest Composers for 2027 Mizzou International Composers Festival; Applications Open for Resident Composers
Internationally acclaimed composer Katherine Balch and American songwriter and composer David Longstreth will serve as Distinguished Guest Composers at the 18th annual Mizzou International Composers Festival (MICF), which will take place July 25-31, 2027 in Columbia, Missouri. Applications are now open for eight Resident Composers to write new works for GRAMMY Award-winning Resident Ensemble Alarm Will Sound. The 18th annual MICF will feature concerts of music by contemporary composers performed in front of live audiences, along with in-person workshops, master classes, and other events.
July 15, 2026
Bio: MICF Distinguished Guest Composer Jlin
Distinguished Guest Composers Jlin and Karola Obermüller will give presentations on their work at 7:30 p.m. July 21 in Room 130 of the Sinquefield Music Center. Works by both composers will be played by MICF Resident Ensemble Alarm Will Sound at 7:30 p.m. July 23 at the Missouri Theatre, and by the Mizzou New Music Ensemble and the Mizzou Percussion Ensemble at 7:30 p.m. July 24 in the Sinquefield Music Center’s Sheryl Crow…
July 14, 2026
Bio: MICF Distinguished Guest Composer Karola Obermüller
Distinguished Guest Composers Karola Obermüller and Jlin will give presentations on their work at 7:30 p.m. July 21 in Room 130 of the Sinquefield Music Center. Works by both composers will be played by MICF Resident Ensemble Alarm Will Sound at 7:30 p.m. July 23 at the Missouri Theatre, and by the Mizzou New Music Ensemble and the Mizzou Percussion Ensemble at 7:30 p.m. July 24 in the Sinquefield Music Center’s Sheryl Crow Hall.
July 9, 2026
Five Questions for MICF Resident Composer Arjan Singh Dogra
Arjan Singh Dogra is one of eight Resident Composers selected to participate in the 2026 Mizzou International Composers Festival. MICF Resident Ensemble Alarm Will Sound will perform his composition Medals of Impotent Bravery at 7:30 p.m. on Saturday, July 25, at Columbia’s Missouri Theatre. The concert is free and open to the public. Dogra is a composer and performer based in New York City who creates art to understand and contextualize his relationship with time, nature, and his culture. He invites audiences experiencing his art to challenge their own perception of time and reflect on their connection…
July 8, 2026
Five Questions for MICF Resident Composer Inga Chinilina
Inga Chinilina is one of eight Resident Composers selected to participate in the 2026 Mizzou International Composers Festival. MICF Resident Ensemble Alarm Will Sound will perform her composition Entangled Vines at 7:30 p.m. on Saturday, July 25, at Columbia’s Missouri Theatre. The concert is free and open to the public. Hailing from Moscow, Russia, Chinilina is a multimedia composer with concert pieces ranging from solo to orchestral compositions, alongside works for dance, film, and installations. She sees music as an act of translation, a concept she explores in both her academic and creative work. This conceptual…
July 7, 2026
Five Questions for MICF Resident Composer Danae Venson
Danae Venson is one of eight Resident Composers selected to participate in the 2026 Mizzou International Composers Festival. MICF Resident Ensemble Alarm Will Sound will perform her composition shout! at 7:30 p.m. on Saturday, July 25, at Columbia’s Missouri Theatre. The concert is free and open to the public. Venson is a composer and multi-instrumentalist from Houston, Texas. She has recently completed her Bachelor of Music degree with academic honors at The Juilliard School, studying with Dr. Amy Beth Kirsten and Valerie Coleman. In 2020, after paying close attention to troubling events of racial violence, Danae decided to…
July 6, 2026
Five Questions for MICF Resident Composer Dean Wibe
Dean Wibe is one of eight Resident Composers selected to participate in the 2026 Mizzou International Composers Festival. MICF Resident Ensemble Alarm Will Sound will perform his composition something in-between at 7:30 p.m. on Saturday, July 25, at Columbia’s Missouri Theatre. The concert is free and open to the public. Wibe is a composer and cellist from Cedar Rapids, Iowa. He began playing in the public school classroom and first studied cello privately with Dianne Platte and Hannah Holman. He received his Bachelor of Music in cello performance at the University of Iowa. Currently, Dean is pursuing a Master of Music…
July 5, 2026
Five Questions for MICF Resident Composer Paul Novak
Paul Novak is one of eight Resident Composers selected to participate in the 2026 Mizzou International Composers Festival. MICF Resident Ensemble Alarm Will Sound will perform his composition ship of theseus variations at 7:30 p.m. on Saturday, July 25, at Columbia’s Missouri Theatre. The concert is free and open to the public. The “spellbinding” (Washington Post) music of Chicago-based composer Paul Novak immerses listeners in shimmering and subtly crafted musical worlds full of color, motion, light, and magic. His recent projects engage with dreams and memory, queer identity, climate change and the natural world, and psychosomatic illness.