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,…
Feb. 5, 2019
St. Louis Symphony musicians to premiere new work by Stephanie Berg
Musicians from the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra will premiere a new work by Mizzou alumnae Stephanie Berg in a concert next month at Powell Hall in St. Louis. Berg’s “Three Prayers” was commissioned by SLSO clarinetist Diana Haskell, and will be performed for the first time as part of of a program of chamber music titled “Equal Play: Celebrating Women Composers” at 7:00 p.m. Friday, March 1 at Powell Hall, 718 N. Grand in St. Louis’ Grand Center district. Berg (pictured) will introduce her work during the concert, which also will include music by Jennifer Higdon…
April 22, 2016
Stefan Freund’s “Cyrillic Dreams” to be performed by St. Louis Symphony in concert on Friday, April 29
The St. Louis Symphony once again will feature music from a Mizzou composer as part of their subscription season when they perform Stefan Freund’s “Cyrillic Dreams” in a concert at 8:00 p.m. Friday, April 29 at Powell Hall in St. Louis. Freund (pictured) is associate professor of composition and music theory at the University of Missouri, co-artistic director of the Mizzou New Music Initiative, and director of the Mizzou New Music Ensemble. The Memphis native also is a cellist and founding member of the new music group Alarm Will Sound, and is the music director and…
Nov. 24, 2014
MNMI alumni in the news
Several Mizzou composition alumni have been in the news this fall: * Grant Fonda, who earned his master’s degree at Mizzou in 2012, was featured as a “composer to watch” as part of ASCAP’s “Composer Spotlight.” Fonda (pictured) was selected earlier this year to take part in the the organization’s Film Scoring Workshop in Los Angeles. * Michael Anderson, who graduated and won the Sinquefield Composition Prize in 2012, had a new work, “The Heart of A Land” premiered by the combined forces of the Parkville Symphonic Band and the Platte City…
March 20, 2014
MICF resident composers in the news
Here’s the latest news and updates from some of the resident composers at past Mizzou International Composers Festivals: * Jeremy Podgursky, MICF 2010, is one of six winners this year of a Charles Ives scholarship from the American Academy of Arts and Letters. The $7,500 scholarships are awarded to composition students of great promise, as selected by a committee of academy members including MICF 2010 guest composer Martin Bresnick, Joan Tower, Samuel Adler, Mario Davidovsky, John Harbison, Stephen Hartke, Tania León, and Tobias Picker. The Ives scholarships and the academy’s other awards in music will be presented at…
Jan. 13, 2014
St. Louis Symphony performs Stephanie Berg’s “Ravish and Mayhem”
Mizzou alumna Stephanie Berg‘s composition “Ravish and Mayhem” was performed by the St. Louis Symphony on January 10 and 11 at Powell Hall in St. Louis to standing ovations from the audiences and rave reviews from local critics. Writing for the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, classical music critic Sarah Bryan Miller found “Ravish and Mayhem” to be “a really delightful work…It’s a fun, creative piece, and (guest conductor Andrey) Boreyko and the orchestra rendered it with accuracy and elan.” Miller also called Berg “a promising new compositional voice,” concluding, “We can trust that this won’t be the last…
July 17, 2013
Composers Festival Spotlight: Mizzou New Music Ensemble
Mizzou New Music Ensemble Although resident ensemble Alarm Will Sound understandably attracts a lot of attention during the Mizzou International Composers Festival, let’s not forget that the “Mizzou New Music” concert on Friday, July 26 at the Missouri Theatre will showcase the Mizzou New Music Initiative’s “home team,” the Mizzou New Music Ensemble. Comprised of graduate students on scholarship, the Ensemble is directed by 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…
July 11, 2013
MICF on TV
This week, a TV commercial promoting the 2013 Mizzou International Composers Festival began airing in Columbia, Jefferson City, St. Louis and Kansas City. The commercial is part of an extensive campaign that also includes ads in daily newspapers and on radio in central Missouri; in Missouri Life, Inside Columbia and the St. Louis Business Journal; and online, as well as posters, social media, a direct mailing of the Festival brochure to music lovers across the state, and more. Astute listeners may recognize the music in the :30 TV spot as an excerpt from Stephanie Berg’s “Ravish and Mayhem,” written when…