July 16, 2017
Composers Festival spotlight: Mizzou New Music Ensemble
The Mizzou New Music Ensemble will be the featured performers in the Mizzou International Composers Festival‘s “Mizzou New Music” concert on Friday, July 28 at the Missouri Theatre. Comprised of graduate students on scholarship, the Ensemble (pictured) is directed by professor of composition, faculty composer, and Alarm Will Sound member Stefan Freund. They serve as the flagship group of the Mizzou New Music Initiative, collaborating with student, faculty, and visiting composers throughout the year to perform a variety of new works. The Ensemble’s members for the 2016-17 season are Victoria Hargrove, clarinet; Daniel Keeler, cello;…
June 15, 2017
Mizzou New Music Initiative awards postdoctoral fellowship to Carolina Heredia
The Mizzou New Music Initiative and the University of Missouri School of Music have awarded a postdoctoral fellowship to composer Carolina Heredia. Starting with the Fall 2017 semester and continuing for two years, Heredia (pictured) will teach private composition lessons to Mizzou students; assist with various MNMI programs; and work on interdisciplinary collaborative projects, initiating and supervising student efforts and also completing a major research project herself. As MNMI’s second postdoctoral fellow, Heredia succeeds Phillip Sink, who is leaving Mizzou for a tenure-track job as assistant professor of theory and composition at Northern Illinois University. Before beginning her fellowship,…
April 18, 2017
Mizzou New Music Ensemble to debut “Eclipse Symphony” with performances in Columbia and St. Louis
The Mizzou New Music Ensemble will commemorate the upcoming solar eclipse of August 2017 with performances in Columbia and St. Louis of the “Eclipse Symphony,” a new collaborative, multi-part work by four Mizzou student composers. The work will be previewed in a concert at 7:30 p.m. Saturday, April 29 at the Bond Life Sciences Center on the University of Missouri campus in Columbia, with the official premiere set for 7:00 p.m. Friday, May 5 at the St. Louis Science Center’s James S. McDonnell Planetarium. General admission to the concert in Columbia is $5 for the public, free for…
March 8, 2017
University Singers, Mizzou New Music Ensemble to premiere new work by William Averitt in concert on Saturday, March 18
The University of Missouri’s University Singers and Mizzou New Music Ensemble will present the world premiere of “Black Pierrot,” a newly commissioned work from composer William Averitt, in a concert at 7:00 p.m. Saturday, March 18 at the First Baptist Church, 1112 East Broadway in Columbia. General admission to the concert is $5 for the public, free for Mizzou faculty, students and staff. “Black Pierrot” was commissioned by Mizzou director of choral activities Paul Crabb for the University Singers and the Mizzou New Music Ensemble with funding from the Sinquefield Charitable Foundation. Inspired by seven poems…
Feb. 21, 2017
Composer Don Freund in residence this weekend at Mizzou
This weekend, the Mizzou New Music Initiative will welcome composer Don Freund to campus for a four-day residency. A professor of composition at the Indiana University Jacobs School of Music since 1992, Freund (pictured) is an internationally recognized composer whose works range from solo, chamber, and orchestral music to pieces involving live performances with electronic instruments; music for dance; and large theater works. He has been described as “a composer thoughtful in approach and imaginative in style” (The Washington Post), whose music is “exciting, amusing, disturbing, beautiful, and always fascinating” (Music and Musicians/London ). Freund also has a personal…
Feb. 2, 2017
Mizzou New Music Ensemble to present works by Freund, Haas, Visconti, McKenney, and Heruth on Monday, February 27 at Whitmore Recital Hall
The Mizzou New Music Ensemble’s first performance of 2017 will include music from a visiting guest composer, new works written by a longtime faculty member and a Mizzou student, and a sneak preview of this summer’s Mizzou International Composers Festival. The concert is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. Monday, February 27 at Whitmore Recital Hall on the University of Missouri campus. General admission is $5 for the public, free for Mizzou faculty, students and staff. Visiting the Mizzou campus for a guest composer residency that weekend will be Don Freund, professor of composition at Indiana University’s Jacobs School…
Nov. 21, 2016
Mizzou New Music Ensemble presenting four world premieres and more in concert Sunday, December 4 at Whitmore Recital Hall
The Mizzou New Music Ensemble will present four world premieres and more in the second concert of their 2016-17 season at 7:30 p.m. Sunday, December 4 at Whitmore Recital Hall on the University of Missouri campus. General admission is $5 for the public, free for Mizzou faculty, students and staff. Three of those premieres were written by Mizzou students, including “The Garden of Earthly Delights” by Adam Cohen, a freshman composition major and Sinquefield Scholar. Inspired by Heironymous Bosch’s famous triptych painting, the piece juxtaposes surrealistic sounds against each other both rhythmically and melodically to evoke an aural whimsy.
Sep. 15, 2016
Missouri Composers Project (MOCOP) seeks new orchestral, choral works for performance in March 2017
Columbia Civic Orchestra For composers of orchestral or choral music, completing a new work often is followed immediately by another formidable challenge: finding an orchestra or choir to perform it. Recognizing this need, the Missouri Composers Project (MOCOP) in 2017 once again is offering performance opportunities for new, large-ensemble music written by Missouri residents. (Founded in 2012 as the Missouri Composers Orchestra Project, MOCOP has been renamed for its sixth year to reflect the inclusion of choral music as well as orchestral works.) MOCOP is a collaborative effort involving the Mizzou New Music Initiative, the Columbia Civic…