Oct. 17, 2022

Morima Yerby wins 2023 Sinquefield Composition Prize

The University of Missouri School of Music and the Mizzou New Music Initiative have awarded the 2023 Sinquefield Composition Prize to Morima Yerby. Now in its 18th year, the Sinquefield Composition Prize is the top award for a composition student at Mizzou. Morima Yerby As this year’s winner, Morima Yerby will be awarded a $2,500 prize and will be commissioned to write a new work for the MU Symphony orchestra. The Orchestra will premiere the work at the Chancellor’s Arts Showcase in the 2023 Spring semester. The work will also be professionally recorded. The other finalists for the 2023 Sinquefield Composition Prize were: Harry…

Feb. 23, 2022

Jacob Gotlib accepts new position with Louisville Orchestra: Jason Thorpe Buchanan selected as Interim Managing Director of Mizzou New Music Initiative; Niko Schroeder chosen as Assistant Managing Director of MNMI

The University of Missouri School of Music has hired Jason Thorpe Buchanan as the interim Managing Director of the Mizzou New Music Initiative (MNMI). In addition, Niko Schroeder has been hired as the Assistant Managing Director of MNMI. Both Buchanan and Schroeder were chosen as resident composers for the Mizzou International Composers Festival – Buchanan in 2013 and Schroeder in 2020. Both began work in their new positions on February 7, 2022. Buchanan and Schroeder are replacing Jacob Gotlib, who has served as Managing Director of MNMI since August 15, 2016. During his tenure as Managing Director,…

Oct. 12, 2020

Santiago Beis wins 2021 Sinquefield Composition Prize

The University of Missouri School of Music and the Mizzou New Music Initiative have awarded the 2021 Sinquefield Composition Prize to Santiago Beis. Beis is a first-year graduate student working toward a master’s degree in composition at Mizzou. He submitted “La sed y el Agua” (“Thirst and Water”), a work for piano and string orchestra, to the competition and was selected for the prize by a panel of independent judges. The adjudicators for the 2021 competition were Yigit Kolat, composer and lecturer at the University of Washington; Wendy Richman, violist with the International Contemporary Ensemble and The Rhythm Method; and…

Sep. 23, 2019

Ben Rouder wins 2020 Sinquefield Composition Prize

The University of Missouri School of Music and the Mizzou New Music Initiative have awarded the 2020 Sinquefield Composition Prize to Ben Rouder. Rouder (pictured) is a junior working toward a bachelor’s degree in composition at Mizzou. He submitted “M.I.S.”, a work for chamber ensemble originally composed as part of last year’s “Influences Symphony” project, to the competition and was selected for the prize by independent judges. The adjudicators for the 2020 competition were Yotam Haber, associate professor of music composition at the University of Missouri-Kansas City and Nina C. Young, assistant professor at the University of Southern California. Now…

Oct. 1, 2018

Niko Schroeder wins 2019 Sinquefield Composition Prize

The University of Missouri School of Music and the Mizzou New Music Initiative have awarded the 2019 Sinquefield Composition Prize to Niko Schroeder. Schroeder (pictured) is in his first year of study for a master’s degree in composition at Mizzou. He submitted “genealogy I,” a work written for piano, violin, and cello, to the competition and was selected for the prize by a panel of independent judges. The adjudicators for the 2019 competition were Emily Koh, assistant professor of composition at the University of Georgia; Sky Macklay, assistant professor of music at Valparaiso University; and David Werfelmann, assistant professor…

Oct. 2, 2017

Aaron Mencher wins 2018 Sinquefield Composition Prize

The University of Missouri School of Music and the Mizzou New Music Initiative have awarded the 2018 Sinquefield Composition Prize to Aaron Mencher. Mencher (pictured) is a junior and Sinquefield Scholar at Mizzou, studying composition with Carolina Heredia. He submitted “Bluish Orange,” a work written for flute, clarinet, and saxophone, to the competition and was selected for the prize by a panel of independent judges. The adjudicators for the 2018 competition were Jennifer Jolley, assistant professor of composition at Ohio Wesleyan University; LJ White, lecturer in composition at Washington University; and Yoshiaki Onishi, a freelance composer in Columbia, MO.

July 10, 2017

Composers Festival spotlight: Henry Breneman Stewart

The University of Missouri’s representative among the eight resident composers for this year’s Mizzou International Composers Festival is Henry Breneman Stewart, who just completed a master’s degree in composition at Mizzou. While at Mizzou, Stewart (pictured) has composed works for the Mizzou New Music Ensemble, Columbia Civic Orchestra, University Singers and more, and served as the “composer on call” for the Mizzou New Music Initiative’s Composer Connection distance-learning program. Most notably, he was the winner of the 2016 Sinquefield Composition Prize – the university’s top honor for a student composer –…

Nov. 30, 2016

Mizzou composer Douglas Osmun featured in Columbia Missourian

Mizzou composer Douglas Osmun, a first-year graduate student in composition and the winner of the 2017 Sinquefield Composition Prize, was the subject of a feature story this week in the Columbia Missourian. Osmun (pictured) talked with reporter Ann Marion about his composition process and about “First Fig,” the work he submitted in this year’s Sinquefield Prize competition. As the winner of the competition, Osman was commissioned to write a new work for the University Philharmonic, which will get a premiere performance in April at the annual Chancellor’s Arts Showcase at the Missouri Theatre. You can read the whole story…