Aug. 1, 2024
Premieres of works by Resident and Guest Composers highlight the 2024 Mizzou International Composers Festival
The 2024 Mizzou International Composers Festival, held July 22-27 at the University of Missouri and various locations in Columbia, concluded with a concert at the Missouri Theatre. It featured new works by eight MICF Resident Composers, performed by Ensemble-in-Residence Alarm Will Sound. This year’s Resident Composers are Lukáš Janata, Davor Vincze, Yingting Liu, Lila Meretzky, Benjamin Scheuer, ess whiteley, Mahbod Shirvani, and Claire Hu. The Festival also included a concert in which Alarm Will Sound performed pieces by Distinguished Guest Composers Mary Kouyoumdjian (Paper Pianos, a finalist for…
July 12, 2024
MICF Resident Composer Spotlight: Mahbod Shirvani
Mahbod Shirvani is an Iranian electroacoustic composer and tar player based in the United States. He earned his bachelor’s degree in Persian music performance, studying under Darioush Talaei, Siamak Aghaei, Hossein Alizadeh, and Azin Movahed at the University of Tehran. Mahbod Shirvani Shirvani has participated in international master classes and lessons with renowned composers such as Ken Ueno, Nina C. Young, Chaya Czernowin, Katharina Rosenberger, Marco Stroppa, Joachim Heintz, and Fanis Gioles. Throughout his career, Shirvani has delivered a number of performances as both a performer and composer, including roles as a theater and film composer in Iran. He…
May 14, 2024
2024 Guggenheim Fellowship awarded to Utku Asuroglu, University of Missouri School of Music Postdoctoral Teaching Fellow in Composition
University of Missouri School of Music Postdoctoral Teaching Fellow in Composition Utku Asuroglu has been appointed as a 2024 Guggenheim Fellow in Music Composition. The appointments were announced on April 11 by the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation. Asuroglu is among 188 new Guggenheim Fellows whose work encompasses 52 disciplines and artistic fields. They range in age from 28 to 89 and represent 84 academic institutions, 38 U.S. states and the District of Columbia, and four Canadian provinces. The fellows were selected via a rigorous peer review process from nearly 3000 applicants. Utku Asuroglu According to a…
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…