Mizzou International Composers Festival Announces Resident Composers for 2020

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Jan 21, 2020, 08:33 ET

COLUMBIA, Mo., Jan. 21, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- The Mizzou New Music Initiative (MNMI) has selected eight resident composers to participate in the 2020 Mizzou International Composers Festival (MICF).

Presented by MNMI and the University of Missouri School of Music from Monday, July 27 through Saturday, August 1 in Columbia, the eleventh annual MICF (http://composersfestival.missouri.edu/) will feature world premieres of new works written by each of the selected composers. Listed with their current places of residence, they are:

The resident composers for the 2020 Mizzou International Composers Festival are (top row, from left) Yu Kuwabara, Pascal Le Boeuf, Shuying Li, and Celka Ojakangas; (bottom row, from left) DM R (Diana M. Rodriguez), Niko Schroeder, Andrew Tholl, and Felipe Tovar-Henao.

The distinguished guest composers for the 2020 Mizzou International Composers Festival will be Chen Yi and David T. Little.

Yu Kuwabara - Tokyo, Japan (https://3shimai.com/yu/index_Eng.html)
Pascal Le Boeuf - New York, NY (http://www.pascalmusic.com/)
Shuying Li - Boston, MA (https://www.shuyingli.com/)
Celka Ojakangas - Los Angeles, CA (https://www.celka.net/)
DM R (Diana M. Rodriguez) - New York, NY (https://music.columbia.edu/bios/diana-m-rodriguez)
Niko Schroeder - Columbia, MO (https://nikodschroeder.com/)
Andrew Tholl - Los Angeles, CA (http://www.andrewtholl.com/)
Felipe Tovar-Henao - Bloomington, IN (https://www.felipe-tovar-henao.com/)

The resident composers were chosen from among 346 entrants - a record for the MICF - from 24 countries. Four of them are originally from outside the US: Yu Kuwabara was born in Japan; Shuying Li is a native of China; and Felipe Tovar-Henao and DM R both are from Bogota, Colombia.

Niko Schroeder, who will be in his second year of study for a masters in composition at Mizzou, will represent the University of Missouri. Schroeder was the winner of the 2019 Sinquefield Composition Prize, the university's highest honor for a student composer. Resident composer Celka Ojakangas also has a Missouri connection, as she was raised in Springfield and earned her bachelor's degree at Drury University.

The 2020 Mizzou International Composers Festival will include a series of public concerts featuring music from the resident composers and other contemporary creators, as well as workshops, master classes, and other events.

The Festival's distinguished guest composers for 2020 will be Chen Yi and David T. Little. Chen is a distinguished professor of composition at the Conservatory of Music and Dance at the University of Missouri-Kansas City. A finalist for the 2006 Pulitzer Prize for Music for her composition "Si Ji" ("Four Seasons"), she was born and raised in Guangzhou, China and is known as a prolific composer who blends Chinese and Western traditions, transcending cultural and musical boundaries.

Little currently chairs the composition program at Mannes - The New School in New York City. He previously served as Executive Director of MATA and on the board of directors at Chamber Music America, and from 2014-2017 was composer-in-residence with Opera Philadelphia and Music-Theatre Group.

The acclaimed new music group Alarm Will Sound, conducted by artistic director Alan Pierson, once again will serve as resident ensemble, as they have since the MICF began in 2010.

During the festival, the eight resident composers will receive composition lessons from Chen and Little; take part in rehearsals with Alarm Will Sound; give public presentations on their music; and receive a premiere performance and professional live recording of their new work.

A complete schedule of events, times, dates and venues for the 2020 Mizzou International Composers Festival will be announced at a later date. For more information, please visit http://composersfestival.missouri.edu/.

The Mizzou International Composers Festival is part of the Mizzou New Music Initiative (http://mizzounewmusic.missouri.edu/), an array of programs positioning the University of Missouri School of Music as a leading center in the areas of composition and new music. The Mizzou New Music Initiative is the direct result of the generous support of Dr. Jeanne and Mr. Rex Sinquefield and the Sinquefield Charitable Foundation (http://www.sinquefieldcharitablefoundation.com/).

For more information:

Mizzou International Composers Festival: http://composersfestival.missouri.edu/
Mizzou New Music Initiative: http://mizzounewmusic.missouri.edu/
Sinquefield Charitable Foundation: http://www.sinquefieldcharitablefoundation.com/

Media Contact:
Jacob Gotlib
[email protected]
573-884-9478

SOURCE Mizzou New Music Initiative