World Premieres of Eight New Musical Works from Resident Composers to be Performed by Grammy Award-Winning Alarm Will Sound at Mizzou International Co

Columbia, Mo., June 15, 2026 – New musical works by eight resident composers from around the world will be performed publicly for the first time in concert at the Missouri Theatre in Columbia on Saturday, July 25 at 7:30 pm as part of the 2026 Mizzou International Composers Festival (MICF). The 22-member Grammy Award-winning ensemble Alarm Will Sound, conducted by artistic director Alan Pierson, will perform all eight compositions during this dynamic public concert presented by the Mizzou New Music Initiative.

Each year MICF attracts leading composers and performers from the world of contemporary classical music composition to be in residence at the University of Missouri School of Music. The concert will be the culmination of the 17^th annual MICF, which will include six days of musical workshops and public performances at the Sinquefield Music Center’s Sheryl Crow Hall and the Missouri Theatre running from July 20 – 25, 2026.

The 2026 Resident Composers were chosen to create new works that will be premiered at the festival after an extensive and rigorous application process from among 564 applicants representing 45 countries. The eight Resident Composers and their new works to be performed include:

• Inga Chinilina (Moscow, Russia) – Entangled Vines
• Augustina Crespo (Buenos Aires, Argentina) - Iter
• Arjan Dogra (New York City, New York) – Medals of Impotent Bravery
• Ihlara McIndoe (Otepoti Dunedin, Aotearoa New Zealand) – Sleepwards, but aware meanwhile,
• Paul Novak (Chicago, Illinois) - ship of theseus variations
• Yuting Tan (Singapore) - glossy starlings in glassy trees
• Danae Venson (Houston, Texas) - shout!
• Dean Wibe (Cedar Rapids, Iowa) - something in-between

In addition, Karola Obermüller of Germany and Jlin of Indiana will serve as Distinguished Guest Composers. During the festival, the Resident Composers will receive composition lessons from Obermüller and Jlin and take part in rehearsals with Alarm Will Sound. The composers also will give public presentations on their music, and after the premiere performances, will receive professional live recordings of their new works.  Alarm Will Sound will serve as Resident Ensemble, as it has since the MICF began in 2010.

The Festival will also include special guest performances by Yarn/Wire and RP Boo. Yarn/Wire is a New York-based percussion and piano quartet dedicated to the promotion of creative, experimental new music. RP Boo is a Chicago-based electronic musician, producer, and DJ known as one of the originators of the footwork genre during the 1990s.

“This vibrant, week-long summer tradition features a wide array of appealing and insightful compositional voices from across the world and puts Columbia, Missouri on the new classical music composition map globally,” said Stefan Freund, Artistic Director of MICF.  “The Missouri International Composers Festival is more than a series of concerts—it is a space for discovery, dialogue, and artistic growth.”

The concert and festival are free and open to the public and will offer many opportunities to meet and speak with the Resident and Guest Composers.  A complete schedule of events, times, dates, and venues for the 2026 MICF can be found at https://newmusic.missouri.edu/micf.

MNMI is a diverse array of programs that position the University of Missouri School of Music as a leading center for the composition and performance of new music. The initiative is supported by the Sinquefield Charitable Foundation, led by Dr. Jeanne and Rex Sinquefield. Their vision is to create an incubator for the composition and performance of new music and to showcase Missouri as a center for the music of tomorrow.