Luiz Hermano Bezerra Wins 2022 Sinquefield Composition Prize

COLUMBIA, Mo., Oct. 25, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- The University of Missouri School of Music and the Mizzou New Music Initiative have awarded the 2022 Sinquefield Composition Prize to Luis Hermano Bezerra. Now in its 17th year, the Sinquefield Composition Prize is the top award for a composition student at Mizzou.

As this year's winner, Bezerra will be awarded a $1,500 prize and will be commissioned to write a new work for the University Wind Ensemble. The Ensemble will premiere the work as part of the 2022 Chancellor's Arts Showcase on Friday, February 25, 2022 at Jesse Hall. The work will also be professionally recorded.

The other finalists for the 2022 Sinquefield Composition Prize were: María Laura Disandro, Jack
Snelling, and Oswald Huynh. The adjudicators for the 2020 competition were: clarinetist Bill Kalinkos, pianist and composer John Orfe, and cellist and composer Jon Silpayamanant.

Bazerra is a Brazilian composer, bassist, and arranger primarily focused on mixing his Brazilian roots with the classical legacy. His compositions, which are profoundly influenced by popular dances and musical genres, present a variety of traditional musical expressions from his country of origin. As a bassist, he has recorded and toured with many groups and ensembles in Brazil, including the Northeast Popular Orchestra and the State University of Ceara Symphony Orchestra.

Bazerra worked as an instructor at the Alberto Nepomuceno Music Conservatory in Brazil, teaching theory, aural training, and bass. He is a now a graduate student in the composition program at the School of Music of the University of Missouri, studying under the mentorship of Dr. Stefan Freund, Dr. Carolina Heredia, and Dr. Yoshiaki Onishi. Bazerra is also a graduate teaching assistant with the Mizzou New Music Initiative, working as an instructor of theory and computer technology.

As a composer, Bezerra's music has been commissioned and performed by ensembles and organizations such as the [Switch~ Ensemble], the Sheldon Arts Foundation in St. Louis, and the Mizzou New Music Ensemble in Columbia, MO.

The Mizzou New Music Initiative brings together an array of programs positioning the University of Missouri School of Music as a leading center in the areas of composition and new music. The Initiative is the direct result of the generous support of Dr. Jeanne and Mr. Rex Sinquefield and the Sinquefield Charitable Foundation.

For more about the Sinquefield Charitable Foundation, please visit the Facebook page while the website is being updated. For more information about the Mizzou New Music Initiative, please visit the website. 

Press Contacts:

Laura Slay, Slay and Associates: (314) 504-0081 [email protected] 

Jacob Gotlib, Mizzou New Music Initiative: (573) 884-9478: [email protected] 

SOURCE Mizzou New Music Initiative