Sep. 4, 2018

St. Louis Symphony Orchestra to read works by Mizzou composers Mikkel Christensen, Ben Colagiovanni, and Libby Roberts

From left: Colagiovanni, Roberts, Christensen Three University of Missouri student composers will have their works played this year by musicians with the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra as part of a joint educational venture between the orchestra and the Mizzou New Music Initiative. Student composers Mikkel Christensen, Ben Colagiovanni, and Libby Roberts were selected by SLSO Resident Conductor Gemma New to write new works for a 40-piece chamber orchestra drawn from the musicians of the St. Louis Symphony. The three works will be read, played and critiqued in a private session on Wednesday, October 31 in St. Louis. The composers…

Nov. 14, 2017

Mizzou New Music Ensemble presenting “Words and Music” and more on Sunday, December 3 at Whitmore Recital Hall

The Mizzou New Music Ensemble will premiere new works by seven different Mizzou composers in a concert at 7:30 p.m. Sunday, December 3 at Whitmore Recital Hall, 135 Fine Arts Building on the Mizzou campus. Admission is $5 for the general public, free for Mizzou faculty, students and staff with ID. The full Ensemble (pictured) will present the premiere performances of “notfromme” by Mikkel Christensen, a first-year master’s student; “Night Blossoms,” by senior composition major Ben Colagiovanni; “If you have nothing nice to say [say it softly],” by Libby Roberts, also a first-year master’s student and the pianist for…

April 20, 2016

Student Composers Concert set for Sunday, April 24 at Whitmore Recital Hall

The spring 2016 edition of the University of Missouri School of Music’s bi-annual Student Composers Concert will showcase new works written and performed by students at 7:30 p.m. Sunday, April 24 at Whitmore Recital Hall on the Mizzou campus. Admission is free for Mizzou students, faculty and staff with ID, $5 for the general public. The program will include: “Four Jazz Moods” by Benedetto Colagiovanni “That I Have Not Lived” by Dustin Dunn “Ever Yours, l. Paris, 1 August 1890” by Travis Herd “Musings of Sky” by Hans Bridger Heruth “Ballroom Blues”…

March 3, 2016

Mizzou New Music Ensemble to perform works by four award-winning composers Tuesday, March 22 at Whitmore Recital Hall

The Mizzou New Music Ensemble will play works from four award-winning composers in a concert at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, March 22 at Whitmore Recital Hall on the University of Missouri campus. Admission is free for Mizzou students, faculty and staff with ID, $5 for the general public. The program will include two pieces from composers visiting Mizzou this year and two from undergraduate students majoring in composition at the university. “Rhapsodies” by David Liptak is a three-movement work from 1992 that showcases contrasting timbral colors in the ensemble. Liptak, a composition professor at the Eastman School of Music…

Jan. 21, 2016

Ben Colagiovanni wins “Young Artist” award
in MTNA national composition competition

The University of Missouri’s Ben Colagiovanni is the national winner of the “Young Artist” award in this year’s Music Teachers National Association (MTNA) composition competition. Colagiovanni (pictured) currently is a senior at Mizzou pursuing a bachelor’s degree in music composition. He was recognized for “Forest Park Rhapsody,” one of four works originally commissioned in 2014 by the Sinquefield Charitable Foundation for the Mizzou New Music Ensemble to perform at an event for Forest Park Forever’s Leffingwell Society. As a winner of the competition, Colagiovanni will receive a first place prize of $3,000, and “Forest Park Rhapsody”…

Dec. 14, 2015

Colagiovanni wins West Central Division of MTNA composition competition

Mizzou’s Ben Colagiovanni has advanced to the next level in this year’s Music Teachers National Association (MTNA) composition competition, winning the “Young Artist” award in the West Central Division. Colagiovanni, a senior pursuing a bachelor’s degree in music composition, previously was recognized as a state winner for “Forest Park Rhapsody.” Now, as a division winner, his work automatically advances to the national competition, the results of which will be announced by the end of January. The national MTNA composition competition offers a first place prize of $3,000, plus a performance at the Winners Concert during the…

Nov. 4, 2015

Ben Colagiovanni wins statewide composition competition

University of Missouri composition student Ben Colagiovanni has won this year’s award in the “Young Artist” category of the Missouri state division of the Music Teachers National Association (MTNA) composition competition. Colagiovanni, a senior pursuing a bachelor’s degree in music composition at Mizzou, was recognized for “Forest Park Rhapsody.” The work originally was one of four commissioned in 2014 by the Sinquefield Charitable Foundation for the Mizzou New Music Ensemble to perform at an event for members of Forest Park Forever’s Leffingwell Society. “Forest Park Rhapsody” now will be entered in the national MTNA composition competition,…

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,…