MacDowell

Conservatory’s Mara Gibson Named MacDowell Colony Fellow The Conservatory’s Community Academy director and composer Mara Gibson has been named as a MacDowell Colony Fellow. Her residency at the prestigious colony in Peterborough, New Hampshire is August 1–22, 2016.  During that time Gibson expects to work on her ongoing orchestra project for the Baroque on Beaver festival orchestra directed by Robert Nordling and inspired by …

The Blackbird Project

Join us for the premiere of the full collaborative iteration of The Blackbird Project for a program is inspired by making the ordinary extraordinary with music by Gibson, featuring collaborations between the Cascade String Quartet, several Conservatory musicians, including JoDee Davis, Trevor Thornton, Emily Trapp and, dancers with choreography by Gary Abbott, and video by Caitlin …

Blackbird with Cascade Quartet

Thrilled to announce that Cascade Quartet will premiere my new string quartet January 31, 2016 in Great Falls, Montana as a part of their Living Female Composers Project.  The quartet will also visit Kansas City in March to premiere to full collaborative iteration of the Blackbird Project as a part of ArtSounds, featuring choreography by Gary …

ArtIfacts release: May 22

Gibson’s music has been noted as boasting “attractive, believable, attention-holding verisimilitude” and ideal for listeners seeking “new works that experiment with alternative sounds and find an effective way to give those voices meaning.” Online blog reviews have proclaimed Flone “an absorbing work that exerts narrative logic and reflects both backward and forward” and “a most …

Conservatory in the Schools awarded second NEA

Conservatory’s Academy Awarded NEA ArtWorks Grant The UMKC Conservatory’s Academy is pleased to announce that it has received a National Endowment for the Arts ArtWorks$20,000 grant for its Conservatory in the Schools program.  This is the second NEA grant for this program.   The groundbreaking Conservatory in the Schools programs provide high-quality performing arts instruction encompassing …