April 27, 2026
St. Louis Symphony Members to Perform World Premiere of Student Composer Nate Leslie’s “Open Your Eyes, Now Is The Time” on April 30 at The Sheldon
St. Louis Symphony Orchestra musicians will perform the world premiere of Open Your Eyes, Now Is The Time, a new work for string quartet written by Mizzou New Music Initiative student composer Nate Leslie, as part of the SLSO’s Live at The Sheldon program on April 30, 2026. This expressive chamber concert will be curated by SLSO violists Chris Tantillo and Shannon Williams. “My piece reads like a fortune cookie, as it is about my journey in realizing the kind of person I would like…
April 3, 2026
St. Louis Symphony Orchestra to Perform Three New Works by Mizzou Student Composers in May 13 Powell Hall Concert
Three University of Missouri School of Music students will have their original music compositions performed by the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra (SLSO) at a special concert at 8 p.m. on May 13, 2026 at Powell Hall in St. Louis. This concert will feature works by Mon Ieong Cheok Kai, a master’s degree student from Macau, China; Dean Wibe, a master’s degree student from Cedar Rapids, Iowa; and Dominick DeStefano, a master’s degree student from Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. They were selected through an annual composers workshop in a collaboration between the SLSO and the Mizzou New Music Initiative…
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…
Dec. 17, 2025
School of Music Student Seda Balci and MNMI Associate Director Tiffany Skidmore to Participate in Vienna Contemporary Composers Festival
University of Missouri School of Music student Seda Balci has been accepted to participate in the Vienna Contemporary Composers Festival, scheduled for July 3-16, 2026. Mizzou New Music Initiative Associate Director Tiffany Skidmore will serve as one of the Festival’s faculty members. The Vienna Contemporary Composers Festival is designed for composers looking to refine their craft, receive professional performances of their works, and immerse themselves in the rich musical culture of Vienna, Austria. Each selected composer will have their new work performed during the festival. Participants…
Nov. 11, 2025
St. Louis Symphony Members to Perform World Premiere of Henry Rusten’s Wind Quintet “Fuse” on December 4 at The Sheldon
St. Louis Symphony Orchestra musicians will perform the world premiere of Fuse, a new work for flute, oboe, clarinet, horn, and bassoon written by Mizzou New Music Initiative student composer Henry Rusten as part of the SLSO’s Live at The Sheldon program on December 4, 2025, The program, themed “Reeds in Turn,” will be curated by oboist Xiomara Mass and bassoonist Julia Paine of the SLSO, who will be in the wind quintet performing the premiere. Henry Rusten “The title Fuse refers to two…
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…
July 21, 2025
Five Questions for MICF Resident Composer Seda Balci
Seda Balci is one of eight Resident Composers selected to participate in the 2025 Mizzou International Composers Festival. MICF Resident Ensemble Alarm Will Sound will perform her composition Riffscape at 7:30 p.m. on Saturday, July 26, at Columbia’s Missouri Theatre. The concert is free and open to the public. Born in Turkey to a jazz-loving father and a mother fond of traditional folk songs, Balci grew up immersed in diverse musical worlds. She began studying piano at age 11 and later earned double degrees in piano and composition from Mimar…
May 5, 2025
Mizzou New Music Initiative to expand thanks to $4.6 million gift
A $4.6 million gift from Dr. Jeanne Sinquefield, Rex Sinquefield, and the Sinquefield CharitableFoundation will ensure University of Missouri students continue to redefine the sounds oftomorrow through the Mizzou New Music Initiative. The funding will expand opportunities for students and faculty, supercharging a program alreadyknown for fostering bold, original compositions and turning visionary ideas into reality. “My goal is to make Missouri a mecca for musical composition,” said Jeanne Sinquefield, amember of the UM Board of Curators and founder of the Mizzou New Music Initiative (MNMI). “The MNMI covers K-12, undergraduate,…