Oct. 15, 2018

Tenth annual Mizzou International Composers Festival set for July 22-27, 2019; applications for resident composers now open

The Mizzou New Music Initiative is accepting applications for resident composers to take part in the tenth annual Mizzou International Composers Festival (MICF), which will be held Monday, July 22 through Saturday, July 27, 2019 on the campus of the University of Missouri in Columbia. In celebration of the festival’s tenth year, Donnacha Dennehy and Amy Beth Kirsten (pictured) will return to the MICF to serve as the two distinguished guest composers for 2019, teaching and consulting with the resident composers and ensemble. Dennehy was a guest composer at the MICF in 2012, while Kirsten was…

Feb. 7, 2017

From the Grammy Awards to Mizzou with Third Coast Percussion

When Third Coast Percussion visits the University of Missouri next week, not only will they be coming directly from the Grammy Awards, they’ll actually be bringing a bit of Mizzou along with them. The Chicago-based group is nominated for a Grammy this year in the category of “Best Chamber Music/ Small Ensemble Performance” for their album Steve Reich, and they’ll also be performing at the Grammy “Premiere Ceremony” hosted by comedian Margaret Cho before the nationally televised portion of the awards gets underway on Sunday, February 12 at the Microsoft Theater in Los Angeles. When they…

Aug. 31, 2012

“Conversations with Composers” podcast – Episode 103

Here’s the third installment in our series of “Conversations With Composers” podcasts recorded at this year’s Mizzou New Music Summer Festival. Episode 103 is the second and final part of a conversation including guest composer Donnacha Dennehy and resident composers Stephanie Berg, Brian Ciach, Charlie Piper and Asha Srinivasan. Give it a listen using the embedded player below:…

Aug. 29, 2012

“Conversations with Composers” podcast – Episode 102

Here’s another installment in our series of “Conversations With Composers” podcasts. Recorded during the 2012 Mizzou New Music Summer Festival, episode 102 is the first part of a conversation among guest composer Donnacha Dennehy and resident composers Stephanie Berg, Brian Ciach, Charlie Piper and Asha Srinivasan. You can hear it in the embedded player below:…

July 27, 2012

More Mizzou New Music Summer Festival press coverage

As the Mizzou New Music Summer Festival has progressed this week, we’ve seen some more coverage of the Festival in the press and online: * The Kansas City Star had a feature story about resident composer Stephanie Berg, who grew up in the KC suburb of Parkville. * The Columbia Daily Tribune‘s Art Axis blog published interviews that reporter Aarik Danielsen conducted with guest composers Donnacha Dennehy and Steven Stucky. * Violist Nadio Sirota, who’s a substitute player this week with the Festival’s resident ensemble Alarm Will Sound, has written about her…

July 16, 2012

Mizzou New Music Summer Festival to include free events

In addition to the ticketed concerts at the Missouri Theatre, the 2012 Mizzou New Music Summer Festival includes a number of events that are free of charge and open to the public. At 4:00 p.m. on Monday, July 23, guest composer Steven Stucky will present a master class with the vocal ensemble Voices of Prometheus at McKee Auditorium on the MU Campus. Presentations by the Festival’s guest resident and faculty composers also will be open to the public. All the composer presentations will take place in the Fine Arts Building’s Room 145.

July 16, 2012

Summer Festival Spotlight: Donnacha Dennehy

It is a privilege and a pleasure to have Donnacha Dennehy as one of the guest composers for the 2012 Mizzou New Music Summer Festival.  Along with fellow guest composer Steven Stucky, Dennehy will instruct and mentor the Festival’s eight resident composers during their week in Columbia. He’ll also oversee the world premiere of the first part of The Hunger,  a large work-in-progress that will be performed by resident ensemble Alarm Will Sound and the Festival’s guest artist, soprano Anne-Carolyn Bird, as part of the concert on Thursday, July 26. Born in 1970 in Dublin, Dennehy is…

July 12, 2012

Summer Festival Spotlight: Alarm Will Sound

Continuing with our series of posts focusing on various participants in the 2012 Mizzou New Music Summer Festival, today we shine out spotlight on Alarm Will Sound. As the resident ensemble for the Festival, AWS plays an essential role in bringing to life the new works created by the resident composers. Not many groups would be willing or able to take on the challenge of premiering eight new pieces in one night with limited rehearsal time, but Alarm Will Sound has accomplished the task each year of the MNMSF with consummate skill and panache. Former in 2001 by…