Mizzou New Music Summer Festival: First Impressions

Mizzou New Music Summer Festival: First Impressions

There is not much about Columbia, Missouri, that screams NEW MUSIC, and it may seem an unlikely place to host a vibrant festival with headlining names such as Roger Reynolds or Alarm Will Sound. However, Columbia, Missouri, is now home to a burgeoning new music scene in which the Mizzou New Music Summer Festival plays an important part.

Written By

Kari Besharse

Columbia, Missouri. You may have driven by this small city in the midst of the green rolling hills of central Missouri just off I-70. Perhaps you are a MIZZOU Tigers fan, or maybe you have passed through Columbia on your way down to the Ozarks. There is not much about this location, however, that screams NEW MUSIC, and it may seem an unlikely place to host a vibrant festival with headlining names such as Roger Reynolds or Alarm Will Sound. However, Columbia, Missouri, is now home to a burgeoning new music scene in which the Mizzou New Music Summer Festival plays an important part. This festival, run through the University of Missouri at Columbia and currently in its second year, gives resident composers the opportunity to compose a work for Alarm Will Sound, which will be premiered and recorded during the festival. Resident composers learn from invited guest composers through lessons and lectures. This festival also serves the very important role of presenting new music to the central Missouri community.

 

resident composers
Resident composers with our new friend the MIZZOU Tiger. Kari Besharse, Yotam Haber, Steven Snowden, Patrick David Clark, Michael-Thomas Foumai, Clint Needham, David Biedenbender

 

I flew into Columbia, Missouri, on Sunday afternoon and after being taken to the dorms and meeting up with the other resident composers, we were all whisked off to the Sinquefield Reserve, the gorgeous home of Jean and Rex Sinquefield, the generous sponsors of the festival. At their estate, we were treated to an excellent dinner and were then introduced to just about everyone involved in the festival, including Alarm Will Sound, guest performer Susan Narucki, guest composers Roger Reynolds and Anna Clyne, and other interested and involved parties. This evening was a great way to immediately establish connections between the performers and resident composers. Close to the end of the evening, Roger Reynolds and Anna Clyne called for a meeting of the resident composers during which we were invited to voice our “concerns” as composers and to state what we wanted to get out of the festival and the guest composers. I thought this was an interesting concept, and several important ideas which have since become themes of the festival were initiated. It also helped us to immediately begin talking about serious issues and helped to create an atmosphere of close exchange.

 

stimulating conversation
Stimulating conversation with Roger Reynolds over Lunch on Monday.
Patrick David Clark, Steven Snowden, Roger Reynolds, David Biedenbender, Michael-Thomas Fumai, Clint Needham

 

It has been extremely hot this week in Missouri, in the upper 90s and very humid. Resident composer Steven Snowden even reported seeing someone frying an egg on the sidewalk outside the Fine Arts Building. So, it is probably a good thing that so much of Monday and Tuesday were spent indoors in a long series of presentations, meetings, and rehearsals. The schedule has been absolutely intense. Monday morning I had the privilege of kicking off the festival by giving a presentation on my music, followed by presentations by five other resident composers. Additionally on Monday, several performers from Alarm Will Sound made a presentation on instrumentation and we also had evening presentations by Anna Clyne and Stefan Freund.

 

Composers at rest
Just chillin’ outside the dorm. Steven Snowden, Ed Paulsen, Patrick David Clark

 

Tuesday proved to be similarly busy. The remaining three resident composers presented their music Tuesday morning. Tuesday afternoon, half of the resident composers had their first rehearsal with Alarm Will Sound, while the other half of us had lessons with Roger Reynolds and Anna Clyne. Despite barely having time to catch my breath so far this week, it seems like this level of activity has been great for fostering relationships. I feel like we have already established our own little new music community. I now know some very important things about my fellow-resident composers’ music and have established relationships with them, as well as with Anna, Roger, and several of the members of Alarm Will Sound. Because it has only been two days, there is a lot of time left for these relationships to develop even further.

And finally, a concert.

Tuesday evening, members of Alarm Will Sound presented the first concert of the festival titled “Another World’s Rapture Remix: An Electroacoustic Chamber Recital,” which featured solo performances with and without electronics. All of the pieces were quite virtuosic and were expertly performed by AWS soloists who were obviously enjoying themselves, which made me very happy to be a part of this program.

Composers in the Anheuser-Busch Natural Resource Building
Perusing the collection of stuffed ducks, pheasants, and geese at the Anheuser-Busch Natural Resource Building at UM