Nov. 4, 2023
MU School of Music graduate student Giovanni Porfirio’s opera “Entre-veias: uma ópera de entranhas” performed in Brazil
An opera composed by University of Missouri School of Music graduate student Giovanni Porfirio was performed on Saturday, Oct. 28, 2023 at the Theatro São Pedro in Porto Alegre Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil. Entre-veias: uma ópera de entranhas (Among Veins: An opera of entrails), with a libretto by Jaoa de Mello, was part of a project that brought together three Brazilian composers to create works performed during the 2023 season at one of Brazil’s foremost opera houses. Giovanni Porfirio Porfirio’s opera explores the life of a virus that becomes the central character of the…
Oct. 18, 2023
New music reed quintet Splinter Reeds in residence at University of Missouri School of Music Oct. 19-20
The new music reed quintet Splinter Reeds will be in residence at the University of Missouri School of Music on Oct. 19 and 20. Splinter Reeds is the West Coast’s first reed quartet and is committed to presenting top-tier performances of contemporary works, commissioning new works, and exploring the possibilities of a quintet made up entirely of reed players. The group includes Kyle Bruckmann (oboe), Bill Kalinkos (clarinet), Nicki Roman (saxophone), Jeff Anderle (bass clarinet), and Dana Jessen (bassoon). Their music traverses the realms of classical, free jazz, improvisation, electronic music, pop, punk, and…
Aug. 9, 2023
Premieres of works by Resident and Guest composers among the highlights of the 2023 Mizzou International Composers Festival
The 2023 Mizzou International Composers Festival wrapped up on Saturday, July 29, with a concert at Columbia’s Missouri Theater. It featured world premieres of new works by eight MICF Resident Composers, performed by Ensemble-in-Residence Alarm Will Sound. The Resident Composers are Santiago Beis, Chen Yihan, Peter Fahey, Sophie Mathieu, Ali Can Puskulcu, Kelley Sheehan, Trevor Van de Velde, and Max Vinetz. Resident Composer Santiago Beis, Guest Composer Tania León, MNMI Music Director Stefan Freund The Festival, which opened on July 26, also included premieres of two works by the Festival’s Guest Composers: Tania León’s Gran Toque (arranged by…
March 7, 2023
Mizzou music students’ works performed by St. Louis Symphony Orchestra
Last Wednesday, three University of Missouri School of Music students found out what it is like to have their work performed by the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra at Powell Hall. For seniors Sam Whitty and Jack Snelling and graduate student Santiago Beis, the concert was the culmination of a process that began last year when they were selected to participate in the annual composer’s workshop which is a collaboration between the SLSO and the Mizzou New Music Initiative and is funded by the Sinquefield Charitable Foundation. Next was a session last fall in which…
Sep. 6, 2022
A look back at the 2022 Mizzou International Composers Festival concerts
The 2022 Mizzou International Composers Festival returned to live concerts after two years of online-only performances at the 2020 and 2021 MICFs. If you attended the live MILF concerts presented at the Missouri Theater, and at Sheryl Crow Hall at the Sinquefield Music Center the last week of July, you experienced firsthand the energy and excitement of these outstanding performances. Let’s take a look back at video recordings of four of these concerts. On Monday, July 25th, The MICF kickoff concert at Sheryl Crow Hall featured resident Mizzou students performing works by Stephen Landy, María Disandro, JT Wolfe, Josè Martinez, Andrew Wiele,…
April 20, 2022
May 6th application deadline for the 2022 Missouri Summer Composition Institute
The 2022 Missouri Summer Composition Institute will once again be offered in person June 11-18 on the campus of the University of Missouri. The Summer Composition Institute offers an incredible opportunity for young Missouri composers to come together for one week of learning and interacting with other creative minds – and all accepted students will be able to participate FREE thanks to the generosity of the Sinquefield Charitable Foundation. The institute is open to students entering grades 9-12 or preparing to enter their first year of college. Up to 16 composers will be selected to…
Aug. 17, 2021
Stefan Freund wins commission from Barlow Endowment
University of Missouri professor of composition and Mizzou New Music Initiative artistic director Stefan Freund has won a commission for 2021 from the Barlow Endowment for Music Composition. Freund (pictured) was one of 9 composers selected from among 259 applications this year to the Endowment’s General and LDS commissioning programs, which will award grants totaling $60,000 to the winners. The Barlow Endowment was established in September 1983 through a gift from Milton A. and Gloria Barlow to Brigham Young University for the purpose of “engendering and supporting excellence in musical composition through the university and the BYU College…
Aug. 9, 2021
Mizzou composer, musicians featured in PBS special celebrating Missouri’s bicentennial
A new work written by a Mizzou composer and performed by MU faculty members will be featured in “Show Me the Music: A Celebration of the Missouri Bicentennial,” a television special that will air beginning this week on PBS affiliates in Missouri. “Waterways” was written on commission specifically for the bicentennial project by Stefan Freund (pictured), who is MNMI’s artistic director and professor of composition at Mizzou. The work then was performed and recorded in May at the Sheldon Concert Hall in St. Louis by MU faculty members Alice Dade (flute), Eli Lara (cello), Julie Rosenfeld…