A Williamsburg Elementary student was among the winners of this year's Mizzou New Music Initiative's 15th annual Creating Original Music Project competition.
Lacie Reetz placed second in the elementary school "Songs with Words" category with her piece "Tryin' to Write a Song." She was sponsored by Sherry Reetz and lives in Mexico.
COMP was founded in 2005 to encourage K-12 students in Missouri to write original music and to provide performance opportunities for those works. It is a joint venture of the University of Missouri's Mizzou New Music Initiative and the Sinquefield Charitable Foundation, which provides an annual gift of $40,000 to sponsor the competition.
Every year, in addition to having their music performed at the COMP Festival, the winning composers in each age group and category and their schools receive cash prizes. High school winners also receive scholarships to attend the Missouri Summer Composition Institute, Mizzou's high school summer music composition camp.
"We're delighted to celebrate fifteen years of the Creating Original Music Project," said Jeanne Sinquefield, of the Sinquefield Charitable Foundation. "From this one competition for K-12 students, the Mizzou New Music Initiative has grown to include many different programs for collegiate and career composers, and helped Missouri gain recognition as a center for composition. As we continue to grow the Initiative, we look forward to supporting and promoting the state's youngest composers for many years to come."
This year's COMP Festival was planned for April 25 in Springfield. However, the event has been postponed indefinitely due to the COVID-19 outbreak. The MNMI is working to reschedule the concert for fall of this year.