Youthful composers present new music

From percussion and string ensembles to a rock band, from vocal solos to jive, the School of Music featured fresh new faces in music composition on stage at Whitmore Recital Hall March 15, 2008. The youthful performers were winners of the 2008 Creating Original Music Project (COMP) for student composers.

More than 60 students, representing kindergarten through high school levels, entered the competition for instrumental music and songs with words. "We had some tough decisions for the judges," says Stefan Freund, director of COMP and an assistant professor of composition and theory at Mizzou.

Elizabeth Salley of St. Robert, Mo., a senior at Waynesville High School, won first place in the instrumental music senior division, ninth through 12th grade. Salley — a repeat winner from 2007 — wrote Spanish Serenade for flute, bassoon, violin and cello. Her inspiration for the music came from her sister's wedding in Mexico.

"It's a beautiful piece, expressive, with a Spanish flavor," says Stefan Freund, "It's very mature in presenting an idea and has nice contrast and variety of instruments."

Eric Gell, a home-school student from Grandview, Mo., won first place in the senior division song-with-words category with his composition Last Moments.

First place in the instrumental music junior division, sixth through eighth grades, went to Maya Cutkosky of West Junior High School in Columbia, who wrote Rain for flute, cello, synthesizer and piano.

Students from two Columbia schools won song-with-words honors, sixth through eighth grade, with Into Yourself. Isaac Baker of Two Mile Prairie Elementary School and Austin Culbertson, Ross Menefee and Nicholas Roberts of Lange Middle School form the winning rock group known as Guilty Party. They are repeat winners from 2007.

Taking top awards in the kindergarten through fifth-grade categories are Cooper Epstein of Captain Elementary School in St. Louis with The Wastebasket, a piece for cello and piano; and Carolyn Klamm of Briarcliff School in Kansas City, Mo., with her song Alleluia.

Philanthropist Jeanne Sinquefield of Westphalia, Mo., provides funding for COMP through the Sinquefield Family Foundation. Her gifts support scholarships and prize money for the student winners as well as $1,000 cash awards for their schools. Sinquefield attended the concerts.

A complete list of winners follows:

Senior Division

Instrumental Music, grades 9–12
First: Elizabeth Salley, St. Robert, Mo., Waynesville High School
Second (tie): Grant Bradshaw, Columbia, home school
Second (tie): Carly McClain, St. Robert, Mo., Waynesville High School
Third (tie): Victoria Yu, Columbia, Rock Bridge High School
Third (tie): Sarah Wahoff, Jennings, Mo., home school

Song with Words, grades 9–12
First: Eric Gell, Grandview, Mo., home school
Second: Christopher Dylan Rucker, Huntsville, Mo., Westran High School

Junior Division

Instrumental Music, grades 6–8
First: Maya Cutkosky, Columbia, West Junior High School
Second: Shaun Gladney, Columbia, Oakland Junior High School
Third: Mingu Kim, Columbia, Smithton Middle School

Song with Words, grades 6–8
First: Isaac Baker, Columbia, Two Mile Prairie Elementary School;
          Austin Culbertson, Ross Menefee, Nicholas Roberts, Columbia, Lange Middle School

Instrumental Music, grades K–5
First: Cooper Epstein, St. Louis, Captain Elementary School
Second: Sage Freter, Vichy, Mo., Rolla Middle School
Third: Nicholas Orazio, Columbia, Fairview Elementary School

Song with Words, grades K–5
First: Carolyn Klamm, Kansas City, Briarcliff School
Second: Mark Twain Elementary School fifth-grade class, Brentwood, Mo.
Third: Farley Nichole Burke, Josiah John Prenger, Columbia, Shepard Boulevard Elementary School

Links:

School of Music
COMP