Making Missouri a major center for the music of tomorrow

The Mizzou New Music Initiative (MNMI) and the University of Missouri School of Music have awarded a postdoctoral fellowship to composer Yoshiaki “Yoshi” Onishi.

Starting with the Fall 2018 semester and continuing for two years, Onishi will teach private composition lessons, composition seminar, and freshman ear training to Mizzou students; serve as assistant conductor for the Mizzou New Music Ensemble; and assist with various MNMI programs. He also will begin a major research project to be completed during the two years of his fellowship.

Onishi (pictured) made news last week when he was awarded a 2018 fellowship from the Guggenheim Foundation, a prestigious prize that since 1925 has been given to scholars, artists and scientists who already have done exceptional work and continue to show promise for the future. As MNMI’s third postdoctoral fellow, he will succeed Carolina Heredia, who was hired by the School of Music to be an assistant professor of composition starting in Fall 2018.

“Yoshiaki Onishi has impressive credentials, and he’ll add another fresh perspective to our composition area,” said Julia Gaines, director of the School of Music and professor of percussion. “With Carolina Heredia joining the full-time faculty, we’re very pleased to have found yet another accomplished individual for this fellowship.”

“As a conductor and clarinetist as well as a teacher and a prize-winning composer, Yoshi has had a variety of experiences that apply directly to what we’re doing with the Mizzou New Music Initiative,” said Stefan Freund, professor of composition and artistic director of MNMI. “Our students definitely will benefit by having him in the mix, and since both of our previous post-doctoral fellows have gone on to tenure-track jobs, we hope that this opportunity will be good for Yoshi, too.”

Born in Hokkaido, Japan, Onishi received his doctorate in composition in 2015 from Columbia University. Previously, he studied composition, clarinet and conducting at University of the Pacific, graduating with highest honors, and earned an artist diploma and master of music degree in composition from Yale School of Music.

He has held teaching positions at Columbia University and Toho Gakuen School of Music in Tokyo, Japan, and has made guest lectures and appearances at the University of Hawai’i at Manoā, University of the Pacific, Columbia University, and other academic institutions.

Onishi has had his music presented worldwide by festivals and organizations such as Festival Rainy Days at Philharmonie Luxembourg, Takefu International Music Festival, Gaudeamus Muziekweek, and more; and performed by ensembles and soloists including Asko/Schönberg Ensemble, Klangforum Wien, JACK Quartet, Momenta Quartet, Wet Ink Ensemble, Nieuw Ensemble, Ensemble Intercontemporain, Anssi Karttunen, Ari Streisfeld, and Linda Jankowska. His works are published by Edition Gravis in Berlin, Germany.

As a conductor, he describes himself as “deeply engaged” in new music and has conducted many ensembles and orchestras, working closely with composers of his generation. Onishi is one of the founding members of Ensemble Exophonie Tokyo, and previously served as an assistant conductor for the Columbia University Orchestra.

His honors and awards include winning the Gaudeamus Prize, one of the most prestigious awards given to young composers, in 2011; being a two-time finalist for the Akutagawa Award in Music Composition in Japan; an artistic residency fellowship from Civitella Ranieri Foundation in Umbertide, Italy; a commission from Ensemble Intercontemporain; and more.

Composer Jonathan Newman is coming to Columbia this month for a residency at the School of Music.

Newman (pictured), who is director of composition and coordinator of new music at Shenandoah Conservatory in Winchester, VA,  will visit Mizzou from Wednesday, April 25 through Friday, April 27.

While he’s on campus, his activities will include coaching the Mizzou New Music Ensemble in rehearsal; giving composition lessons and a presentation on his works; and attending the concert by the Mizzou Wind Ensemble on Friday at the Missouri Theatre.

Wind and educational ensembles around the world frequently perform Newman’s music, and the Mizzou Wind Ensemble’s concert will include one of his best-known compositions, “Blow It Up, Start Again,” as well as “Avenue X” and “As the scent of spring rain…” In addition, Newman’s works “Moon by Night” and “1861” will be performed by Mizzou’s Symphonic Band at their concert on Sunday, April 29, also at the Missouri Theatre.

Trained as a pianist, trombonist, and singer, Newman creates music informed by an upbringing performing in orchestras, singing in jazz choirs, playing in marching bands, and accompanying himself in talent shows, incorporating pop, blues, jazz, folk, and funk into otherwise classical models.

Born in 1972, he received the Charles Ives Scholarship from the American Academy of Arts and Letters, and holds degrees from Boston University’s School for the Arts and from The Juilliard School, where his collaborative works for dance enjoyed multiple performances at The Juilliard Theater, Alice Tully Hall, P.S. 122, and Dance Theater Workshop.

Newman’s music has been performed by orchestras worldwide, including the Minnesota Orchestra, the Toronto Symphony, the Cabrillo Festival of Contemporary Music Orchestra, the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra at the 2015 BBC Proms, and many others.

In 2016 he was appointed composer-in-residence for the Chicago Youth Symphony Orchestra, which originally commissioned “Blow It Up, Start Again” in 2011 and performed four of his works, including the newly commissioned “Meridian,” during their 2016-17 season. Other recent projects include a re-imagined Mass for The Choir of Trinity Wall Street; a large-scale work commissioned by the Florida State University Wind Orchestra; “Prayers of Steel” for Chicago’s Gaudete Brass, and, with playwright Gary Winter, an opera based on the 1962 cult horror film Carnival of Souls.

Newman also has a connection to the Mizzou International Composers Festival’s resident ensemble Alarm Will Sound, having transcribed and arranged “Logan Rock With” and “Fingerbib” for their 2005 album Acoustica: Alarm Will Sound Performs Aphex Twin on Cantaloupe Records.

His works have been recorded on labels such as Avian, BCM, Brain Music, Cantaloupe, Cedille, Klavier, Mark Custom, Naxos, Potenza, and Summit Records. Newman also is a founding member of the composer consortium BCM International, which has released two albums.

You can hear some of Jonathan Newman’s music in the embedded players below and on his SoundCloud page.

“Blow It Up, Start Again,” a transcription with performance by the Florida State University Wind Orchestra, conducted by Richard Clary, recorded April 15, 2013 at Ruby Diamond Concert Hall in Tallahassee FL

“Stereo Action,” recorded by the Texas A&M-Commerce Percussion Ensemble at the 2010 PASIC in Indianapolis, IN

“My Hands Are A City,” as performed by the University Of Georgia Wind Ensemble, conducted by John Lynch, on their album “Millennium Canons: Looking Forward, Looking Back”

The University of Missouri School of Music will welcome Carolina Heredia as an assistant professor of composition starting with the fall semester in 2018.

Currently a post-doctoral fellow with the Mizzou New Music Initiative, Heredia (pictured) first came to Columbia as one of the eight resident composers for the 2017 Mizzou International Composers Festival. In her new tenure-track job, she’ll teach individual lessons, lead and teach independent and collaborative intermedia projects, and continue to assist with various MNMI programs.

“Carolina Heredia was the best fit for the job, and with that credential, we’re very pleased to welcome her as the first woman ever to join the University of Missouri’s composition faculty,” said Julia Gaines, director of the School of Music and professor of percussion. “As a native of Argentina, she also brings a Latinx influence to our program. We’re delighted that our top candidate also expands the diversity of our faculty in more than one way.”

“Carolina brings a unique and impassioned voice to the Mizzou New Music Initiative,” said Stefan Freund, professor of composition and artistic director of MNMI. “Her work with intermedia is inspiring for our students, and she will be leading them and our area in making collaborative art of the future.”

“I’m thrilled to join the Mizzou community as a full-time faculty member next year. Being here as a postdoc has allowed me to appreciate the enthusiastic, supportive and inspiring environment at the School of Music, and I truly believe this is a unique place,” said Heredia. “I’m very pleased to be part of a composition department that is committed to excellence and inclusivity at all levels of musicianship, while also making an important difference in the larger community.”

Born in Córdoba, Argentina, Carolina Heredia earned her doctorate in musical arts in composition at the University of Michigan, studying with Michael Daugherty and Evan Chambers.

While at Michigan, she also taught electronic music as a graduate student instructor and founded the Khemia Ensemble, a contemporary music group dedicated to creating innovative concert experiences involving interactive technology.

Previously, she earned her degree in music composition from the Universidad and Nacional de Villa María in Villa María, Argentina, and a master’s degree in music composition from the University of Michigan.

Her compositions have been commissioned and performed in the United States and South America by musicians and ensembles including Alarm Will Sound, JACK Quartet, Derek Bermel, Aspen Contemporary Ensemble, Duo Cortona, Tesla Quartet, and Alexander Fiterstein; and featured at events such as the SONIC Festival NYC, Aspen Music Festival and School, Bowling Green New Music Festival, TIES Toronto International Electroacoustic Festival, SEAMUS, New Music Gathering 2017 and 2018, Cordoba Composition Biennial, Mizzou International Composers Festival, and more.

Heredia’s honors and fellowships include the Fromm Commission from Harvard University (2015); a fellowship from the Susan and Ford Schumann Center for Composition Studies at the Aspen Music Festival (2015); an Institute of Humanities Fellowship from University of Michigan (2016-17); a Missouri Music Teachers Association (MMTA) composition commission from Music Teachers National Association and MMTA (2017); the Institute for Research on Women and Gender Award from University of Michigan (2017); and a Paul R. Judy Center for Applied Research grant from Eastman University (2017).

The Mizzou New Music Initiative will welcome composer and educator James Mobberley to the Mizzou campus for a residency next week.

Mobberly (pictured) currently is a distinguished professor emeritus and adjunct professor at the Conservatory of Music and Dance at the University of Missouri-Kansas City, having retired as a full-time faculty member there in 2016.

He’ll be in Columbia next Monday, February 26 and Tuesday, February 27 for a residency that will include a presentation on his music to a seminar of composition students, giving private lessons, and coaching the Mizzou New Music Ensemble, who will play his work “Toccatas and Interludes” at their concert on Monday night at Whitmore Recital Hall.

A Rome Prize winner and Guggenheim Fellow, Mobberley has written works for a variety of media, from orchestral, chamber and electro-acoustic music for the concert stage to music for dance, film, and video.

Born in Des Moines, Iowa and raised in Pennsylvania, Mobberley earned his master’s degree at the University of North Carolina and his doctorate at the Cleveland Institute of Music. He began teaching at UMKC in 1983.

He has been a resident composer with the Kansas City Symphony (1992-1999), and a visiting composer with both the Taiwan National Symphony (1999) and the Fort Smith Symphony (2000). Past guest residencies and workshops include the Taiwan National Symphony, the Ft. Smith Symphony, the Composers Forum of the East at Bennington College, the University of Texas at Austin, the University of Southern California, Oberlin College, Washington State University, the University of Arkansas, Heidelberg College, and more.

Mobberly has received commissions from the Fromm Foundation at Harvard University, Koussevitzky Foundation/Library of Congress, Barlow Endowment, Meet the Composer, Chamber Music America, National Endowment for the Arts, and numerous ensembles and individual performers. He also has received awards from the American Academy of Arts and Letters, League-ISCM, Meet the Composer, the Van Cliburn Foundation, the Shanghai Spring Festival, and many other organizations.

His music has been featured on two dozen recordings, notably an all-Mobberley album by the Czech National Symphony on the Albany label, as well as on labels such as Black Canyon, Bridge, Capstone, Centaur, Everglade, and Troppa Note.

You can see performances of two of James Mobberley’s works in the embedded players below, and hear many of his other compositions on his SoundCloud page.

“In B” and “Peace Study,” performed by pianist Anthony DeMare at the 2013 Tribeca New Music Festival

“Caution to the Winds” for piano and electronic tape, performed by Kristina Sandulova on February 15, 2008 in Utrecht, The Netherlands.