Feb. 23, 2022

Jacob Gotlib accepts new position with Louisville Orchestra: Jason Thorpe Buchanan selected as Interim Managing Director of Mizzou New Music Initiative; Niko Schroeder chosen as Assistant Managing Director of MNMI

The University of Missouri School of Music has hired Jason Thorpe Buchanan as the interim Managing Director of the Mizzou New Music Initiative (MNMI). In addition, Niko Schroeder has been hired as the Assistant Managing Director of MNMI. Both Buchanan and Schroeder were chosen as resident composers for the Mizzou International Composers Festival – Buchanan in 2013 and Schroeder in 2020. Both began work in their new positions on February 7, 2022. Buchanan and Schroeder are replacing Jacob Gotlib, who has served as Managing Director of MNMI since August 15, 2016. During his tenure as Managing Director,…

Oct. 15, 2021

Mizzou’s 2022 Creating Original Music Project (COMP) offers awards, cash prizes for Missouri student composers

The Mizzou New Music Initiative (MNMI) has returned to presenting live perfomances for the 2021-22 season. As part of our upcoming season, MNMI is looking forward to once again providing young music students in Missouri with the opportunity to hear their new compositions performed in concert through the MNMI Creating Original Music Project (COMP). Now in its 17th year, COMP is an annual statewide competition sponsored by the University of Missouri School of Music and the Sinquefield Charitable Foundation. COMP showcases new, original music from Missouri student composers and songwriters in grades K-12, offering positive recognition and prizes, performance and educational…

April 20, 2020

Mizzou’s 2020 Summer Composition Institute to proceed online

Following the policies announced by the University of Missouri, this year’s Missouri Summer Composition Institute, scheduled from Monday, June 21 through Saturday, June 27, will take place entirely online. The high school students and incoming first-year college students participating in the program still will receive extensive personal instruction and interaction with Mizzou faculty, and will be able to hear the Khemia Ensemble bring their compositions to life. Activities will include daily courses in notation, instrumentation, and repertoire; daily private composition lessons; workshops with members of the Khemia Ensemble; and a remote chamber music recording workshop. Because of the…

Oct. 9, 2019

Olivia Bennett wins 2019-20 Luna Composition Lab fellowship

Missouri student composer Olivia Bennett has been named one of five 2019-20 fellows by Luna Composition Lab, a program at the Kaufman Music Center in New York City that provides mentorship and performance opportunities to young composers who are female-identifying, non-binary, or gender non-conforming. Bennett (pictured), a 17-year-old home-schooled student from Nixa, Mo (just south of Springfield), has won multiple awards in competitions sponsored by the Mizzou New Music Initiative. Those awards include a total of five prizes in the annual Creating Original Music Project (COMP), a statewide composition competition for students in grades K-12, and two…

Oct. 22, 2018

Mizzou’s Creating Original Music Project (COMP) offers
awards, cash prizes for Missouri student composers

The Mizzou New Music Initiative is inviting young composers from all across Missouri to take part in the 2019 Creating Original Music Project (COMP). Now in its 14th year, COMP is an annual statewide competition sponsored by the University of Missouri School of Music and the Sinquefield Charitable Foundation. COMP showcases new, original music from Missouri student composers and songwriters in grades K-12, offering positive recognition and prizes, performance and educational opportunities, and more. Both the winning composers and their schools will be awarded cash prizes, and the winning compositions will be performed at the Creating Original…

March 23, 2017

Creating Original Music Project to present award-winning works from Missouri student composers in concert on Saturday, April 15

Some of the winners at the 2016 COMP Festival Whether heard on a concert stage or in a theater, on film or TV, or in a video game or app, every piece of music starts with a composer – and every young composer needs a start. That’s why Mizzou’s Creating Original Music Project (COMP) will present performances of award-winning original works by young Missouri composers at the twelfth annual COMP Festival, held from 10:30 a.m. to 4:00 p.m., Saturday, April 15 in the Fine Arts Building on the campus of the University of Missouri. Admission is free and open…

March 14, 2016

Creating Original Music Project to present award-winning works by Missouri student composers in concert on Saturday, April 16 in Columbia

Audio from the 2016 COMP Festival will stream live online on Saturday, April 16 From classical, jazz, and blues to folk, rock, and hip-hop, Missouri has a rich and varied musical history. The Show-Me State over the years has produced a long list of musical luminaries, from Scott Joplin, Virgil Thomson, and Burt Bacharach to Clark Terry, Chuck Berry, and Sheryl Crow, but what does the future hold? The answer could be in Columbia, where Mizzou’s Creating Original Music Project (COMP) will present performances of award-winning original works by young Missouri composers in grades K-12 at the 11th…