Registration for 2015 Composition Workshop 2015 is NOW OPEN!  For details and registration forms, visit our Register for the Workshop page.

Our 2014 Commission Competition winner, Michael Maiorana, is updating us on his composition process as he works on a commission for the 2015 workshop.  Check out the first of his posts:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rmli07NXylY&feature=youtu.be

We look forward to hearing more from Michael as his piece develops!

Composition Workshop 2015 will take place June 14-20, 2015.  Stay tuned for details and registration information!

Applications are now available for this year’s exchange between UMKC and the Thailand International Exchange Festival!  UMKC composition students are encouraged to apply.  More details on our TICF Partnership page.

I CARE IF YOU LISTEN magazine was there for this year’s Composition Workshop Opening Concert, and they have posted a great review in their latest issue!

Check it out here: https://read.typeengine.net/0018#issue/4974/article/~dh7

This year’s festival was a great success and a lot of fun – thank you to all who made it possible!  Here’s what some of our participants had to say:

• The UMKC Workshop was an incredible experience.  This was definitely what I needed to realize what I am in my career and how I can advance.  I have learned so much from the faculty here I wish I could have more time to learn more.
• You cannot beat this exposure.  I wish I knew about this years ago!
• Dr. Gibson’s personal comments and observations about my music provided me with composition goals for the coming years
• Mobberley was amazing.  I’ve learned more from him in a week than I did in a semester.
• The pedagogy track is invaluable to up-and-coming comp teachers.
• I will never forget Beethoven’s 6th Symphony with the crashing theater from Paul Rudy’s performance
• The improv performance was of a caliber almost unbelievable for the amount of time the improv ensemble had been given to practice and cohere.  It was very inspiring and encouraging.
• Michael Hall was amazing.  His presentations and comments were very helpful and detailed.
• I really enjoyed collaborating with other composers in a way I had never tried before.  We created a piece that felt successful to me, was really fun to play, and expanded my experience with composition process.
• I really enjoyed playing in the improv group.  It pushed me out of my comfort zone a little at first and that was really exciting.  It was such a great and unique experience
• So many people who came to the workshop were doing cool things in their professional lives.  It was really inspiring to be reminded of how much artful music is being created all over the place all the time.
• Sheer variety of topics, musicians, compositional approaches, ideologies, etc.  It was fantastic to be introduced to these people/concepts
• The contrasting [faculty] viewpoints are incredible!  We got to have a glimpse of everybody.  This was very important to me and to see how others view/think about their music
• The opportunity to hear new, contemporary works played by such amazing musicians is invaluable.  I can’t wait to take a closer look at some of the pieces.

Three of this year’s concerts were professional recorded by our Conservatory Recording Department, and we are offering CD recordings of these concerts for purchase here through our website.  CDs are $12 each, and shipping is $3 per order.  Visit our 2014 Concert CD Recordings page for order forms.

Join us for the following programs to be performed at the workshop.  Both concerts will feature violist Michael Hall and performers from newEar.

Opening Concert: Saturday, June 14, 7:30pm

• Benjamin Britten – Lachrymae
• Luciano Berio – Naturale
• Charles Ives – Concord Sonata mov. 3 – The Alcotts
• György Ligeti, Sonate for Solo Viola

Closing Concert: Friday, June 20, 7:30pm

• Hannah Lash – C
• Mara Gibson – Flone
• Antonio Celso Ribeiro – Syrian Requiem
• Mark Lowry – Drumbadzah
• Andrea Clearfield – Convergence
• James Mobberley “Once Again to the Light”
• Alexandra Gardner – Seduction Involves Patience
• Jacob ter Veldhuis –  The Body of Your Dreams

The finalists for this year’s Composer’s Competition are:

• Meteorology for flute and piano, by Coleman Gliddon
• Ravelled Knots for Bb clarinet, viola, and piano, by Yunkyung Hong
• Point Source for Bb clarinet, viola, and piano, by Michael Maiorana

Finalist pieces will be performed during a reading session with newEar on Sunday, June 15.  One winner will be chosen from the finalist pool, and will be announced at the finale performance on Sunday, June 20.

Congratulations to our finalists!

This coming Monday April 28, flutist Luisa Sello will perform at White Recital Hall here at UMKC.  Her performance will include the U.S. premieres of works by Composition Workshop faculty members Mara Gibson and James Mobberley.  The recital will begin at 7:30pm and is free to attend.

Program will include:

BACH: Sonata for Flute and Obbligato Keyboard in B Minor, BWV 1030
GIBSON: Flone
CASELLA: Barcarola e scherzo, Op. 4
PRANGCHAROEN: Lom
CHAMINADE: Concertino for Flute, Op. 107
BISCHOF: Erbarme dich (Siciliano on Bach’s Matthäus-Passion)
MOBBERLEY: Respiri
BACH: Andante from Sonata for Flute and Continuo in E Minor, BWV 1034

Join us for what should be a very enjoyable performance!