Aug. 31, 2012

“Conversations with Composers” podcast – Episode 103

Here’s the third installment in our series of “Conversations With Composers” podcasts recorded at this year’s Mizzou New Music Summer Festival. Episode 103 is the second and final part of a conversation including guest composer Donnacha Dennehy and resident composers Stephanie Berg, Brian Ciach, Charlie Piper and Asha Srinivasan. Give it a listen using the embedded player below:…

Aug. 29, 2012

“Conversations with Composers” podcast – Episode 102

Here’s another installment in our series of “Conversations With Composers” podcasts. Recorded during the 2012 Mizzou New Music Summer Festival, episode 102 is the first part of a conversation among guest composer Donnacha Dennehy and resident composers Stephanie Berg, Brian Ciach, Charlie Piper and Asha Srinivasan. You can hear it in the embedded player below:…

July 27, 2012

More Mizzou New Music Summer Festival press coverage

As the Mizzou New Music Summer Festival has progressed this week, we’ve seen some more coverage of the Festival in the press and online: * The Kansas City Star had a feature story about resident composer Stephanie Berg, who grew up in the KC suburb of Parkville. * The Columbia Daily Tribune‘s Art Axis blog published interviews that reporter Aarik Danielsen conducted with guest composers Donnacha Dennehy and Steven Stucky. * Violist Nadio Sirota, who’s a substitute player this week with the Festival’s resident ensemble Alarm Will Sound, has written about her…

July 23, 2012

Mizzou New Music in the News

If you’ve missed some of the recent coverage of the Mizzou New Music Summer Festival in the news media, here’s your chance to catch up. * On Sunday, the Columbia Daily Tribune published a thoughtful and comprehensive preview story about the Festival by Aarik Danielsen. * The St. Louis Beacon last week had a nice feature story about the Festival, written by Neel Thakkar. * Stephanie Berg, who recently earned her master’s degree at Mizzou and is one of the resident composers for this year’s Festival, was featured in last week’s issue of…

July 12, 2012

Summer Festival Spotlight: Stephanie Berg

Today, let’s get acquainted with one of the resident composers for the 2012 Mizzou New Music Summer Festival, Stephanie Berg. She’s one of eight individuals to earn that designation this year, chosen from nearly 150 applicants from countries around the world, including Israel, France, Ireland, Spain, South Africa, Russia, England, Thailand, Canada and China. As a Missouri native and Mizzou graduate, Berg (pictured) is something of a local favorite at this year’s Festival. She grew up in the Kansas City suburb of Parkville, graduating from Park Hill South High School, and earned her Bachelor of Music degree…

June 7, 2012

Tickets now on sale for 2012 Mizzou New Music Summer Festival

Tickets are now on sale for the 2012 Mizzou New Music Summer Festival’s concerts on Thursday, July 26; Friday, July 27; and Saturday, July 28. Now in its third year, the Mizzou New Music Summer Festival will take place starting Monday, July 23 through Saturday, July 28 in Columbia, MO. The MNMSF already is established as one of the most noteworthy contemporary music events in the Midwest, attracting attention from composers, musicians, music educators and media around the world. This year’s grand finale will feature the world premieres of eight new works written by the festival’s…

March 9, 2012

MNMI in the media: Stephanie Berg, Donovan Tousignant, eighth blackbird

The Mizzou New Music Initiative continues to make news on campus, in Columbia, and throughout the state of Missouri and the world of music. Most recently, two young composers associated with the MNMI were featured in the Columbia Daily Tribune. Stephanie Berg, a graduate student who’s a member of the Mizzou New Music Ensemble and a past winner of the Sinquefield Composition Prize, was profiled by the Tribune‘s Jill Renae Hicks in a story on February 19. Berg will be one of the resident composers at this year’s Mizzou New Music Summer Festival, to be held July…

Jan. 31, 2012

Missouri Composers Orchestra Project selects four winning new works

The Columbia Civic Orchestra (CCO) and the Mizzou New Music Initiative have announced the selection of four orchestral compositions written by Missouri residents to be performed by the CCO at a concert in March. The works were chosen in a statewide competition conducted under the auspices of the Missouri Composers Orchestra Project (MOCOP). The winners will receive a $500 honorarium from MOCOP’s sponsor, the Sinquefield Charitable Foundation. The three works chosen in the Open category are “Euphoria Overture” by Michael Blackwood, who lives in Florissant and teaches orchestra for the Rockwood School District; “This Is the Garden”…