Jan. 19, 2021

Yoshiaki Onishi chosen as MMTA’s Commissioned Composer for 2021

The Missouri Music Teachers Association (MMTA) has selected Yoshiaki Onishi as their Commissioned Composer for 2021. Onishi (pictured), a postdoctoral fellow with the Mizzou New Music Initiative, was chosen after submitting a portfolio of works anonymously to a panel of three judges. As the winner of the award, he will be commissioned to write a new work to be premiered in November 2021 at MMTA’s annual conference. The winners of the Commissioned Composer competition in various states also are eligible to compete for the Music Teachers National Association’s “Distinguished Composer of Year” award, which includes…

Feb. 28, 2020

Mizzou New Music Ensemble to preview music from upcoming tour of South America and more on Monday, March 9 at Sinquefield Music Center

The Mizzou New Music Ensemble will present a preview of music from their upcoming tour of South America and more in a concert at 7:30 p.m. Monday, March 9 at the Sinquefield Music Center on the University of Missouri campus in Columbia. The concert is free and open to the public. For their first concert of 2020 and their first public performance at the new Sinquefield Music Center, the Ensemble (pictured) will play two new works written by Mizzou graduate composition students, “Cataretê” by Luis Hermano Bezerra and “Ancient Echoes” by Daniel Fitzpatrick. Both pieces were composed specifically for…

Feb. 27, 2020

Mizzou New Music Ensemble hitting the road in May
for concert in Texas, tour of South America

The Mizzou New Music Ensemble will hit the road this spring to perform a concert in Fort Worth, TX, followed by a tour of South America that will take them to Argentina, Brazil, Peru and Uruguay. The journey will begin with a performance at 3:00 p.m. Saturday, May 9 at the Amon Carter Museum of American Art in Ft. Worth, TX, where the Ensemble (pictured) will perform a program of new works created by Mizzou composition students in response to images from the museum’s collection. Junior composition major Ben Dawson’s piece is inspired by the Carter Museum’s…

Feb. 5, 2020

Quatuor Diotima to perform in two concerts, present world premiere during residency at University of Missouri

The internationally acclaimed group Quatuor Diotima is coming to the University of Missouri for a residency that will include two performances and the world premiere of a new commissioned work composed by Mizzou post-doctoral fellow Yoshiaki Onishi. Formed in 1996 by graduates of the Paris National Conservatory, Quatuor Diotima (pictured) is a string quartet that performs contemporary classical music and offers a fresh look at works by the great composers. The quartet’s members are violinists Yun-Peng Zhao and Constance Ronzatti, violist Franck Chevalier, and cellist Pierre Morlet. They will perform at 7:30 p.m. Thursday, February 20 at Whitmore…

Jan. 28, 2020

Bret Bohman named 2019 MTNA Distinguished Composer of the Year

The Music Teachers National Association (MTNA) has named Bret Bohman as the 2019 MTNA Distinguished Composer of Year. Bohman (pictured) teaches courses in electronic music composition and music theory at the University of Missouri. He is a co-founder of the new music group Khemia Ensemble, and also records original electronic music under the name Bels Lontano. Bohman previously taught at the University of Michigan, where he received his doctorate. The MTNA award is given to the composer of the most significant work from among all compositions commissioned during the year by the organization’s state affiliates,…

Oct. 31, 2019

Mizzou New Music Ensemble to perform works from Missouri, South America, and more on Sunday, November 17 at Whitmore Recital Hall

The Mizzou New Music Ensemble will offer new music from Missouri, South America, and more in concert at 7:30 p.m. Sunday, November 17 at Whitmore Recital Hall on the University of Missouri campus in Columbia. The concert is free and open to the public. From close to home, the Ensemble (pictured) will perform the two winning works written for the 2019 Missouri Association of Departments and Schools of Music (MADSM) Collegiate Composition Competition. “Cadencia” was composed by Truman State University student Samuel Tillman, the 2019 winner in the undergraduate category winner, and “Hitt Street Harangue” is by…

Sep. 18, 2019

Mizzou New Music Ensemble to perform works by Boulez, Higdon, Martínez, and Heredia in concert Sunday, October 6 at Whitmore Recital Hall

The Mizzou New Music Ensemble will begin their 2019-20 season with a concert featuring works by two modern masters, a Mizzou alumnus, and a current Mizzou faculty member. The Ensemble (pictured) will perform music by Pierre Boulez, Jennifer Higdon, José Martínez, and Carolina Heredia at 7:30 p.m. Sunday, October 6 at Whitmore Recital Hall on the University of Missouri campus in Columbia. The concert is free and open to the public. As the name suggests, Boulez’s “Dérive 1” is derived from two of his other compositions, “Messagesquisse” and “Répons,” the latter of which in turn was…

July 29, 2019

A look back at the 2019 Mizzou International Composers Festival