Dustin Dunn wins UMSL Young Composers Competition

Dustin Dunn's composition "In the Shadow of Shepherd Mountain" has been selected as the winner of the 2018 UMSL Young Composers Competition (Wind Ensemble, division 2). The work will be premiered by the UMSL Wind Ensemble as part of a concert at 7:30 p.m.  Wednesday, October 17 at the Touhill Performing Arts Center on the…

Composer Yevgeniy Sharlat coming to Mizzou for residency, concert

Composer Yevgeniy Sharlat is coming to Mizzou next month for a residency and concert. Sharlat, who's an associate professor at the University of Texas at Austin, will be in Columbia on Monday, October 1 and Tuesday, October 2. While he's on campus, he'll give a presentation and private lessons to composition students and coach the…

Composers Festival spotlight: Robert Morris

The Mizzou New Music Initiative is most grateful to Robert Morris for agreeing to serve as one of the two distinguished guest composers at the 2018 Mizzou International Composers Festival. Morris, a composer and professor at Eastman School of Music, graciously re-arranged his summer schedule on short notice to come to Columbia after composer Chen…

Composers Festival spotlight: Igor Santos

Originally from Curitiba, Brazil, resident composer Igor Santos comes to the 2018 Mizzou International Composers Festival by way of Chicago, where he recently earned his PhD in music composition from the University of Chicago. Before that, Santos received his M.A. from the Eastman School of Music, where he was an active member of the Ossia…

Composers Festival spotlight: Gemma Peacocke

Over the past nine years, the Mizzou International Composers Festival has had portfolios submitted from all over the world, and this year, resident composer Gemma Peacocke became the first New Zealander ever to be part of the MICF. Now living in the USA and working toward a PhD at Princeton University, Peacocke grew up in…

Composers Festival spotlight: Alex Mincek

The Mizzou New Music Initiative is pleased to welcome Alex Mincek as one of the two distinguished guest composers for this year's Mizzou International Composers Festival. In addition to composing, New York-based Mincek also is the saxophonist, bass clarinetist, and artistic director of the Wet Ink Ensemble, a contemporary music group he founded in 1998.…

Composers Festival spotlight: Douglas Osmun

The University of Missouri's representative among this year's group of resident composers at the Mizzou International Composers Festival is Douglas Osmun, who recently earned his M.M. in composition from Mizzou. Originally from Zeeland, MI, Osmun previously received his bachelor's degree in music from Western Michigan University, where he was named a Beulah and Harold McKee…

Composers Festival spotlight: Amanda Feery

If there were a prize for "longest distance traveled to take part in the Mizzou International Composers Festival," resident composer Amanda Feery would be the winner for 2018, coming to Columbia all the way from Dublin, Ireland. Originally from County Offaly in Ireland, Feery recently moved back to her home country after completing her PhD…