C.O.M.P. winners make news

The announcement of the winners of this year's Creating Original Music Project (C.O.M.P.) competition has prompted a flurry of press coverage around the state. In St. Louis, sisters Bella and Lilly Ibur have been the subjects of several news stories. They recently were featured on Show Me St. Louis, which airs weekday afternoons on local…

Missouri student composers win prizes in statewide music competition

The University of Missouri School of Music has announced that 28 elementary, middle school and high school students from across Missouri have been awarded prizes in the sixth annual Creating Original Music Project (C.O.M.P.) competition. C.O.M.P. is a joint venture of the University of Missouri School of Music and the Sinquefield Charitable Foundation, which provides…

Zhou Juan, Christopher Dietz win faculty appointments

While the Mizzou New Music Summer Festival was going on, two of our resident composers got some good news regarding their academic careers. Christopher Dietz has won a one-year appointment as a full-time composition instructor at Bowling Green State University, home of the MidAmerican Center for Contemporary Music. Dietz' music was performed at BGSU in…

Spotlight on Stefan Freund

Cellist and composer Stefan Freund is a big part of the Mizzou New Music Initiative. As associate professor of composition and music theory, Freund teaches young composers at Mizzou and directs the Creating Original Music Project (COMP). He'll be busy during the inaugural Mizzou New Music Summer Festival, too, both as a teacher and as a…

Spotlight on W. Thomas McKenney

As the Mizzou faculty member charged with overseeing the Festival, W. Thomas "Tom" McKenney has been involved in the event since its inception. During the next week, his task will be even more hands-on, as he works with the Festival's eight resident composers, takes part in faculty presentations, and more. McKenney, who is professor of…

Spotlight on Edie Hill

Here's another in our series of profiles of the resident composers taking part in this year's Mizzou New Music Summer Festival: The most experienced among the 2010 Festival's eight resident composers, New York City native Edie Hill (pictured) earned a bachelor’s degree in music composition and piano performance at Bennington College, where she studied with…

Spotlight on Martin Bresnick

We are honored to have Martin Bresnick as one of the guest composers and instructors who will work with the eight resident composers taking part in the Mizzou New Music Summer Festival. Bresnick (pictured) was born in New York City and educated at the High School of Music and Art, the University of Hartford, Stanford…

Spotlight on Zhou Juan

Here's another in our series of profiles of the resident composers taking part in this year's Mizzou New Music Summer Festival: A native of Sichuan, China, Zhou Juan (pictured) was raised in Kelamayi, Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region and graduated from the Central Conservatory of Music (CCOM) in Beijing, where she earned bachelor’s and master’s degrees…