Missouri Music at 200: Summer Tour and Fall Performances
As we dive into autumn, we wanted to take a moment to reflect on our summer Missouri Music at 200 tour and share some upcoming events.
At the end of July, our American Wild Ensemble gathered at Missouri State University in Springfield, Missouri, to rehearse, record, and perform a new program, Missouri Music at 200, created in honor of the 2021 bicentennial of Missouri statehood. After a few intense days of learning the music and recording with the awesome duo of Christopher and Jeremy McDonald (Christopher Andrew Studios), we headed out on tour of the state for five live, outdoor performances of music by Stefan Freund, Barbara Harbach, Marcus Lewis, Michael Murray, Christopher Stark, and Ingrid Stölzel. We also shared poetry by poets Karen Craigo, Glenn North, and Alice Azure, as well as commentary from our creative and organizational collaborators.
AWE with composer Ingrid Stölzel after recording her new work, Where the Sun of Freedom Shines
We performed at the Shaw Nature Reserve in Gray Summit, the Brush Creek Amphitheater at the Bruce R. Watkins Center in Kansas City, the Botanical Garden in Springfield, Wildcat Glades Park in Joplin, and Peace Park in Columbia - with an additional virtual performance with the Missouri History Museum in St. Louis. For each event, we worked with incredible community partners and are grateful for their enthusiasm and support of this collaborative statewide program. We are also grateful for the support of the Missouri Arts Council, Missouri Humanities Council, Missouri State University, and numerous individual donors who helped us make this project happen. Most of all it was a joy to share music inspired by a specific place and milestone with Missourians, creating opportunities to make connections, find points for reflection, and start new conversations about the rich and complex history - and future - of this state. This is at the core of our vision for Music in the American Wild.
Performing at the Shaw Nature Reserve, Gray Summit, MO
Over the course of the fall, we will be sharing our video recordings of each of our commissioned pieces on Facebook and our YouTube channel. We look forward to sharing this wonderful and varied program with you!
Two more upcoming opportunities to enjoy our Missouri music include:
-On Sunday, October 3 at 11:00 AM CT, selections from our Missouri Music at 200 program will be shared on the Classical KC radio show “Sound Currents,” hosted by Sascha Groschang and Laurel Parks, with brief commentary from our directors and composer Ingrid Stölzel.
-On Thursday, November 11 at 7:00 PM CT we will perform our Missouri Music at 200 program live at The World Chess Hall of Fame in St. Louis. Information and tickets are available HERE.
Check out our cute tees!
We are currently working on some exciting new projects, in development for premieres in early 2022, and look forward to sharing our progress on these new undertakings. Thank you for continuing to follow along with our adventures!
PS. We have a few Missouri bluebird t-shirts remaining, with beautiful artwork designed by illustrator Il Sung Na. Check out our SHOP to snag an adorable t-shirt before they’re gone!