July 18, 2014
Composers Festival Spotlight: José Martínez
José Martínez Resident composer José Martínez is representing the University of Missouri and the Mizzou New Music Initiative at this year’s MICF. Originally from Cali, Valle del Cauca, Colombia, José earned his diploma at the Conservatory of Music at the National University of Colombia in Bogotá, and currently is studying for a master’s degree in composition at Mizzou. For the festival, he has written a new work, “Dances Torridas” that will be one of eight world premieres performed by resident ensemble Alarm Will Sound at the Festival’s grand finale on Saturday, July 26 at the Missouri Theatre.
July 17, 2014
Composers Festival Spotlight: Ashley Fu-Tsun Wang
Ashley Fu-Tsun Wang Ashley Fu-Tsun Wang is another of the resident composers helping to put the “international” into this year’s Mizzou International Composers Festival. A native of Taiwan, Ashley comes to the MICF via the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, where she’s studying for a Doctor of Musical Arts degree. Ashley also holds degrees from the Manhattan School of Music and SooChow University, and her work draws on an eclectic musical palette, ranging from Western and non-Western classics to jazz and pop. In a statement on her website, she says she seeks to “capture the…
July 17, 2014
Composers Festival Spotlight: Nicholas Omiccioli
Nicholas Omiccioli Although this year’s Mizzou International Composers Festival is in one sense the most international to date, with resident composers who were born in Australia, Colombia, South Korea and Taiwan in addition to the USA, it’s also the first MICF with two resident composers currently living in Missouri. One is José Martínez, who came to Columbia, MO from Colombia to study for his masters degree, and is representing Mizzou in this year’s festival. (More about him in this space soon.) The other is Nicholas Omiccioli, who will be making the trip to Mizzou from Kansas…
July 15, 2014
Composers Festival Spotlight: Texu Kim
Texu Kim A native of South Korea, 2014 MICF resident composer Texu Kim currently is pursuing a doctorate in composition with minors in electronic music and music theory at Indiana University, where he also serves as an associate instructor in music theory. Before coming to the USA, Texu earned bachelor’s and master’s degrees in composition from Seoul National University. He also holds a bachelor’s degree in chemistry from the same university, and in 1998 was a silver medal winner at the International Chemistry Olympiad in Melbourne, Australia. In March, he was appointed composer-in-residence for the Korean…
July 15, 2014
Composers Festival Spotlight: Ian Dicke
Ian Dicke Resident composer Ian Dicke comes to this year’s Mizzou International Composers Festival from the University of California, Riverside, where he just completed his first year as an assistant professor of digital composition. A native of New Jersey, Ian earned degrees in music from the University of Texas at Austin (D.M.A), University of Michigan (M.M.), and San Francisco Conservatory of Music (B.M.). In addition to teaching and composing, he also helps run two presenting organizations, founding and curating the Outpost Concert Series in Riverside while also continuing to co-direct the annual music festival…
July 14, 2014
Composers Festival Spotlight: Holly Harrison
Holly Harrison Holly Harrison is the first-ever MICF resident composer to come from Australia, where she was was born and raised, and currently is studying for a Doctorate of Creative Arts in Composition at the University of Western Sydney. She previously graduated from the University’s bachelor of music program with the University Medal for outstanding academic achievement. Holly’s music is “driven by the nonsense literature of Lewis Carroll, embracing stylistic juxtapositions, the visceral energy of rock, and whimsical humour.” The first and last of those qualities certainly are reflected in the name of the piece she’s…
July 14, 2014
Composers Festival Spotlight: Michael Schacter
Michael SchachterMichael Schacter is one of eight resident composers at the 2014 Mizzou International Composers Festival, and comes to Columbia from Ann Arbor, MI, where he currently is working towards a Ph.D. in music theory and composition at the University of Michigan. Originally from Massachusetts and an enthusiastic Red Sox fan, Michael is a pianist as well as a composer whose music draws from “an eclectic brew of influences including jazz and New Orleans, Renaissance polyphony, Jewish liturgy and klezmer, and South Indian classical music.” He earned his BA in 2009 from Harvard, where he directed…
July 9, 2014
Zhou Long to serve as guest composer
for 2014 Mizzou International Composers Festival;
Beat Furrer unable to attend for medical reasons
The Mizzou New Music Initiative announced today that Swiss composer Beat Furrer, who had been scheduled to be one of the guest composers later this month at the 2014 Mizzou International Composers Festival, will be unable to attend the festival due to medical reasons. In place of Furrer, Pulitzer Prize-winning composer Zhou Long, Distinguished Professor of Music at the University of Missouri-Kansas City Conservatory of Music and Dance, has agreed to serve as a guest composer for the 2014 MICF. “We regret that Beat Furrer won’t be able to participate in this year’s festival, as his doctor has…