Nov. 15, 2016

Mizzou composer’s work to be performed at SCI conference

The Society of Composers, Inc (SCI) has selected a work by Mizzou’s Douglas Osmun for performance at their annual national conference next year. Osmun’s “First Fig,” a work for voice, cello, and piano that incorporates text by Edna St. Vincent Millay, will be performed on Friday, March 31 at the SCI event, which will take place March 30 through April 1 at Western Michigan University in Kalamazoo, MI. Osmun (pictured) is a first-year graduate student in composition and winner of the 2017 Sinquefield Composition Prize. He’s also an alumnus of Western Michigan, having earned…

Oct. 3, 2016

Mizzou composer Douglas Osmun wins 2017 Sinquefield Composition Prize

The University of Missouri School of Music and the Mizzou New Music Initiative have awarded the 2017 Sinquefield Composition Prize to Douglas Osmun. Osmun, who grew up in Zeeland, MI, is a first-year graduate student at Mizzou studying composition with Stefan Freund. He submitted “First Fig,” a work written for alto voice, cello and piano, to the competition and was selected for the prize by a panel of independent judges. The adjudicators for the 2017 competition were: * Lee Hartman, instructor in music and music theory, University of Central Missouri; * Allison Ogden, lecturer in composition, University…

April 6, 2016

Mizzou’s fine arts departments to celebrate Shakespeare at Chancellor’s Arts Showcase Monday, April 11 at Missouri Theatre

The fine arts departments at the University of Missouri will join together to celebrate the works of William Shakespeare at the annual Chancellor’s Arts Showcase, starting at 7:30 p.m. Monday, April 11 at the Missouri Theatre, 203 S. Ninth St. in Columbia. The event will feature the world premiere of “Sonnet 73: De Profundis,” a musical setting of a Shakespeare poem composed by this year’s Sinquefield Composition Prize winner, Henry Breneman Stewart (pictured), and performed by the University Singers. In addition to the world premiere and other selections from the University Singers, the showcase also will include…

Oct. 7, 2015

Henry Breneman Stewart wins 2016 Sinquefield Composition Prize

The University of Missouri School of Music and the Mizzou New Music Initiative have awarded the 2016 Sinquefield Composition Prize to Henry Breneman Stewart. Stewart, a native of Lancaster County, PA, is a first-year graduate student at Mizzou studying composition with Stefan Freund and piano with Janice Wenger. He submitted “Threnody,” a work for string quartet, to the competition and was selected for the prize by a panel of independent judges. The adjudicators for the 2016 competition were: * R. Paul Crabb, director of choral activities, University of Missouri; and artistic director, Prometheus;…

Oct. 13, 2014

Mizzou composer Trey Makler wins 2015 Sinquefield Composition Prize

Trey MaklerThe University of Missouri School of Music and the Mizzou New Music Initiative have awarded the 2015 Sinquefield Composition Prize to Trey Makler. Makler, a junior from Farmington, MO, is studying composition at Mizzou with W. Thomas McKenney and Stefan Freund. He submitted “Elysium,” a work for chamber ensemble, to the competition and was selected for the prize by a panel of independent judges. The adjudicators for the 2015 competition were Mara Gibson, associate teaching professor, UMKC Conservatory of Music and Dance ; Eric Honour, professor of music and director of the Center for Music…

Oct. 14, 2013

José Guillermo Martínez Rubiano wins 2014 Sinquefield Composition Prize

The University of Missouri School of Music and the Mizzou New Music Initiative have awarded the 2014 Sinquefield Composition Prize to José Guillermo Martínez Rubiano. Martínez (pictured), a composer and percussionist currently studying for a master’s degree in composition at Mizzou, submitted his orchestral work “Mutaciones I” to the competition and was selected for the prize by a panel of independent judges. The adjudicators for the 2014 competition were: * Warren Gooch, professor of music, theory and composition at Truman State University; * Forrest Pierce, associate professor of composition at the University of Kansas; and *…

July 11, 2013

Composers Festival Spotlight: David Witter

David Witter Today, let’s get acquainted with David Witter, another of the eight resident composers at this year’s Mizzou International Composers Festival. A native of Holt’s Summit, MO (near Jefferson City) and current resident of Columbia, Witter has studied composition with W. Thomas McKenney and Stefan Freund, earning his bachelor’s degree in music from Mizzou in 2010 and an M.M. degree in 2012. While working this past academic year toward his K-12 teaching certification, he was awarded the 2013 Sinquefield Composition Prize, resulting in a new commission to write a work for the University Philharmonic.

March 11, 2013

Missouri Couple Gives $1.4 Million to Continue New Music Initiative

Dr. Jeanne Sinquefield at the Chancellor's Concert on Monday, March 11, announcing a $1.4 million gift to the MU School of Music The University of Missouri has announced that a generous gift from the Sinquefield Charitable Foundation will support programs and scholarships directed toward promoting the creation of new music Jeanne and Rex Sinquefield of Westphalia, MO have given the University $1.4 million to continue and expand the Mizzou New Music Initiative (MNMI) and the Creating Original Music Project (C.O.M.P) at MU. The gift announcement was made at the annual MU Chancellor’s Concert Monday evening. The…