Feb. 2, 2026
MNMI in the news
Here is some recent media coverage of the Mizzou New Music Initiative, its faculty, and students. Trent Fitzsimmons, whose composition Equinox Serenade, will receive its world premiere at the Sheldon Concert Hall in St. Louis on Thursday, February 5, was interviewed on the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra‘s St. Louis Stories blog. You can read the interview here: Five Questions with Mizzou Composer Trent Fitzsimmons Mizzou’s Maneater wrote about two University of Missouri Music Department faculty members, Stefan…
Aug. 27, 2025
Three 2025 Mizzou Master of Music Composition graduates accept placements at prestigious universities
Three 2025 Mizzou Master of Music Composition graduates have accepted placements at prestigious universities where they will pursue further advanced degrees in music. Seda Balci has accepted an assistantship to pursue a PhD in Music Composition and Technology at Northwestern University. Harry Gonzalez has accepted an assistantship to pursue a Doctor of Musical Arts in Composition at Rice University. And Giovanni Porfirio has been accepted to the Barenboim-Said Akademie in Berlin. Seda Balci Harry Gonzalez Giovanni Porfirio Balci says her music is shaped by her three great…
April 10, 2025
Mizzou Student Yoell Tewolde featured on the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra’s SLSO Stories blog
Mizzou sophomore composition student Yoell Tewolde was recently featured on the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra’s SLSO Stories blog. Tewolde’s piece waves on the shore for piano and wind quintet will be given its world premiere performance at 7:30 p.m. April 24 as part of the SLSO’s final “Live at the Sheldon” chamber-music concert of the season. The series is an ongoing collaboration between the SLSO and the Mizzou New Music Initiative. The April 24 concert, held at the Sheldon Concert Hall in St. Louis, is titled “Wind and Water” and is curated by the…
March 5, 2025
Mizzou student Henry Rusten featured in Cape Girardeau’s Southeast Missourian and on the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra’s SLSO Stories blog
Mizzou student Henry Rusten, a composer and multi-instrumentalist, was recently featured in Cape Girardeau’s Southeast Missourian and on the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra’s SLSO Stories blog. Rusten’s piece Paradigm Shift for string quartet will be given its world premiere performance at 7:30 p.m. March 6 as part of the SLSO’s “Live at the Sheldon” chamber-music series. Henry Rusten The series is an ongoing collaboration between the SLSO and the Mizzou New Music Initiative. The March 6 concert, held at The Sheldon Concert Hall in St. Louis, is titled “Echoes of Home” and curated by the orchestra’s violinist…
Sep. 10, 2024
St. Louis Area Concert Series to Showcase Mizzou New Music Initiative Composers’ Works Performed by St. Louis Symphony Orchestra Members
A series of six new concerts featuring new works from the Mizzou New Music Initiative composers will be performed in St. Louis this fall and in spring 2025 by members of the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra at the Sheldon Concert Hall and the Touhill Performing Arts Center.The Mizzou New Music Initiative is a diverse array of programs that position the University of Missouri School of Music as a leading center for the composition and performance of new music. The initiative is supported by the Sinquefield Charitable Foundation, led…
Oct. 23, 2023
The Mizzou New Music Initiative announces its schedule of St. Louis, MO, events for the fall 2023 and spring 2024 semesters
The Mizzou New Music Initiative (MNMI) has announced its schedule of events being held in St. Louis, MO, during the fall 2023 and spring 2024 semesters. The Mizzou New Music Initiative is a diverse array of programs that position the University of Missouri School of Music as a leading center for the composition and performance of new music. The initiative is supported by the Sinquefield Charitable Foundation, led by Dr. Jeanne and Rex Sinquefield. Their vision is to create an incubator for the composition and performance of new music and to showcase Missouri as a center for the music of…
April 28, 2022
May 11 Sheldon Concert Hall Performance features world premiere of string quartet by Mizzou composer María Laura Disandro
On Wednesday, May 11 at 8 p.m., The Sheldon Concert Hall in St. Louis will present the final “Sheldon Classics” performance of the 2021-22 season. Violinist and St. Louis Symphony Orchestra assistant concertmaster Erin Schreiber will lead a string quartet featuring fellow Symphony members violinist Shawn Weil, violist Leonid Plashinov-Johnson, and cellist Bjorn Ranheim. The quartet will play Ravel’s String Quartet in F Major and a new work for string quartet by Mizzou composer María Laura Disandro, Burning Matchstick House (2022). The quartet will be joined by pianist Peter Henderson for a performance of Brahms’…
April 21, 2022
Mizzou New Music Ensemble featured at Dean Minderman Memorial Concert May 3, 2022 at Sheldon Concert Hall
The Mizzou New Music Initiative will honor longtime St. Louis music journalist and musician Dean Minderman at a memorial concert on Sunday, May 3rd at 8 p.m. at the Sheldon Concert Hall in St. Louis. The concert will feature the Mizzou New Music Ensemble performing three Sound of Art commissions written by Mizzou composition students in honor of Minderman, as well as two additional works, one by a current Mizzou student and another by a Mizzou alum. Support for the concert is provided by the Sinquefield Charitable Foundation. Tickets are $20 general admission and…