Robert Morris to serve as guest composer for 2018 Mizzou International Composers Festival; Chen Yi withdraws for medical reasons

Composer Chen Yi, who had been scheduled to be one of the distinguished guest composers later this month at the 2018 Mizzou International Composers Festival, has withdrawn from the festival due to medical reasons. In place of Chen, Robert Morris, composer and professor at the Eastman School of Music, has agreed to serve as a…

Composers Festival spotlight: Viet Cuong

Resident composer Viet Cuong comes to the 2018 Mizzou International Composers Festival from Philadelphia, where he currently is studying in the Curtis Institute of Music's Artist Diploma program and finishing his PhD at Princeton University. Born in West Hills, CA and raised in Marietta, GA (near Atlanta), Cuong also holds an MFA from Princeton. He…

Composers Festival spotlight: Christine Burke

Like many contemporary composers, Christine Burke does more than write music. Burke, who's one of the seven resident composers for the 2018 Mizzou International Composers Festival, also is a clarinetist and bandleader of the Christine Burke Ensemble, giving her a ready outlet for new musical ideas. Burke is a fellow Midwesterner, coming to the MICF…

Erin Hoerchler wins ASCAP Foundation scholarship

Mizzou alum Erin Marie Hoerchler is the winner of the 2018 ASCAP Foundation Frederick Loewe Scholarship. Hoerchler (pictured), who earned her bachelor of music degree in composition from Mizzou in 2017, is a composer, vocalist, and musical director with a particular interest in musical theater. She will begin work in September on a master of…

Composers Festival spotlight: Oren Boneh

Originally from Denver, CO, resident composer Oren Boneh comes to the 2018 Mizzou International Composers Festival via California, where he currently is working on a PhD in composition at the University of California, Berkeley. He earned his undergraduate degree at the University of Denver, and subsequently has studied at McGill University in Montreal, the Royal Danish…

Mizzou New Music Initiative awards postdoctoral fellowship to Yoshiaki Onishi

The Mizzou New Music Initiative (MNMI) and the University of Missouri School of Music have awarded a postdoctoral fellowship to composer Yoshiaki “Yoshi” Onishi. Starting with the Fall 2018 semester and continuing for two years, Onishi will teach private composition lessons, composition seminar, and freshman ear training to Mizzou students; serve as assistant conductor for…

St. Louis Symphony Orchestra musicians to perform three new works by Mizzou composers on Sunday, April 29 at Powell Hall

Members of the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra, led by the SLSO's resident conductor Gemma New, will perform three new works by student composers from the University of Missouri School of Music at 2:30 p.m. Sunday, April 29 at Powell Hall in St. Louis. Admission…

Composer Jonathan Newman to visit Mizzou for residency

Composer Jonathan Newman is coming to Columbia this month for a residency at the School of Music. Newman (pictured), who is director of composition and coordinator of new music at Shenandoah Conservatory in Winchester, VA,  will visit Mizzou from Wednesday, April 25 through Friday, April 27. While he's on campus, his activities will include coaching…