The Conservatory is pleased to note that composition alum Wang A Mao (DMA, composition 2016) and first year DMA composition student Shaosheng Li have commissioned works in the Focus! 2018 Presents China Today: A Festival of Chinese Composition. The 34th annual Focus! festival opened Friday, January 19, 2018, at 7:30 pm in Juilliard’s Peter Jay Sharp Theater and continues through January 25.
On Jan. 24, 2018, Wang A Mao's The Colloquy of Strings and Air, for flute and piano, which was commissioned by the Juilliard School for Focus! 2018 has its world premiere.
On January 23, 2018, Shaosheng Li's The Streaming World (2017) for clarinet, cello and piano, had its world premiere. It was composed for this festival.
Mao Zhu, who was a UMKC Visiting Scholar 2015–2016, from Sichuan Conservatory, China) had a world premiere of The Island (2017) for string quartet in four movements, commissioned by the Juilliard School for Focus! 2018.
Congratulations to the Conservatory's strong composition department; students, faculty, visitors!