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Jeanne Sinquefield – “Music is the Joy of my life”

akordus — Thu, 10 Jun 2010 17:04:59 +0000

“Music is the joy of life,” Jeanne Sinquefield said, a certain eagerness in her voice. While far from being Jeanne’s only passion, music has played a huge role in her life. An accomplished string bass player, Jeanne is very generous in support of her passions. Her eagerness to support the arts is evident not only in word, but in deed. Her goal, in a few words, is to turn her home state of Missouri into a music Mecca for composers young and old. Here is the evolution of her dream.

Music is Central

“Music is such a central part of everyone’s life,” Jeanne said. “Radio, CDs, what about the music in Lord of the Rings, Star Wars, Schindler’s List? We know so much music and we don’t even know we know it. And there’s so much new music. So you say to yourself, well, how do we get new music? I was in Vienna doing a series of concerts last year, and think about it Bach, Mozart, Beethoven, come from all over Europe. But Vienna attracted the best composers,” Jeanne enthused. So, she explained, they created a culture for musicians, for composers, for these types of geniuses. “These people were in that particular place in that particular time and people put money up to have orchestras hire composers,” she explained. As a result, these composers’ work was encouraged.

Bringing the Composers of Today Together

“So I started thinking,” Jeanne began, a clear purpose forming in her voice, “Well, maybe you could do it here in America, if it happened in a specific place. You’ve got that great writing place in Iowa, that best opera place in Santa Fe in the summer.” And Jeanne realized what she was going to do, what she could do. “I knew we could do that here in Missouri,” she said. When Jeanne’s vision first began to take shape, it materialized as a statewide competition for young composers in K-12. And not only was the program well-received, the contenders were modern-day Mozarts and Bachs in their youth. “We gave cash prizes to students and to their music programs. The first year we were blown away. One, where do these kids come from? They just crawled out of the ground,” Jeanne laughed. “They were so talented! We did it the next year, and by that time we decided the kids were out there, but there was no place for them to go to get better, so we decided to add a high school summer camp.”

Jeanne’s dream of fostering young composers in Missouri developed further in the third year of the program. “We had this documentary done called ‘Genius Among Us.’ My son’s a movie producer and they were on strike, so he got a bunch of guys to come out and feature the children in our program. It was one of those random good luck strikes, and they won a couple of film awards.” But it was what Jeanne heard the students say in the film that impacted her the most. “What was interesting was that every young composer is all the same. They all say, ‘I hear it in my head.’” Jeanne says she remembers thinking: “You know what, when I get up in the morning, I don’t hear [music] in my head. And,” she said, “that’s what seems to differentiate these composers, these kids. They have this ability to hear new music in their heads.”

Taking It To The Next Level

Jeanne noted after all she had accomplished in the competition and the summer program, she still thought there could be more done, more created, to foster an environment to grow young composers. “We said we have a high school camp, why not add a college camp? Except when we sent out apps, it didn’t occur to us to put age or education limits on the thing. We got eight winners out of 120 applicants. These were world class composers and ensembles and the people who got accepted are the best younger composers. They are all in their 30s, all coming for a camp to have their music performed. It’s really, really hard to get their music performed. Hiring an orchestra is expensive.”

Jeanne remembers her excitement over a future concert with these eight composers. A concert, the inaugural Mizzou New Music Summer Festival, will be held Monday, July 12 through Sunday, July 18 in Columbia, Mo. According to the Press Releases: “The week-long series of events will include four public concerts, culminating in the world premieres of new works written by eight international composers and performed by the acclaimed new music ensemble. Alarm Will Sound at 2 p.m., Sunday, July 18 in the newly renovated Missouri Theatre Center for the Arts, 203 S. Ninth St. in downtown Columbia.”

“What kind of music will they come up with?” Jeanne asked excitedly. “This concert is going to be unbelievable. I think we will have more talent in a single place. And this is a concert performed in Missouri! We have this prize at the university, a big tuition thing, and if you win this scholarship, you also get to write an original piece that will be performed by an orchestra we would partner with. Then things kept going further and the University students were coming and saying: what about us? So I worked with different orchestras – Columbia Civic and others, encouraging them to hire composers, to invite these kids to write original pieces.”

Jeanne might be satisfied knowing her dream has resulted in eight full undergraduate rides for composers. She might be enthused about the coming compositions of the young musicians and composers she is fostering. But really, in her mind, this is just the beginning.

Support for the Composers

Jeanne discussed the opportunities for the composers in her programs. “We have our own ensemble, online or distance learning. There is an on-call composer, and he’ll help.” Jeanne’s program continues to grow, and as the students network with each other and find commonality with other young composers, the vision comes more clearly into focus. With her co-collaborators, she discovers new and interesting ways to tie the arts to music. In an annual contemporary art competition, students will write a piece of music to go along with a piece of art. “I don’t even know how I’d start about picking the music,” she smiled.

Seeing Your Dreams Through

How has Jeanne accomplished what she has for young composers nationwide? “It’s not that you just do something, you’ve really got to want to do it,” she stressed. “I figure if my grandpa can do some of the things he did, no one should use the excuses, ‘well I can’t do that because I didn’t go to the right school,’ ‘I didn’t come from a wealthy background.’ You decide you can or can’t. If you want to be an expert on something, read 100 books. I didn’t major in music, I’m not a composer. But, you can do a lot of things if you’re willing to. People can say what they want about my goal to make Mizzou a Mecca for composers, but I have eight of the best young composers there this summer. The reason our students are getting better is that they now have a bunch of friends like themselves; no one had ever met another composer. But we are developing such great musicians and composers. But we have to grow the kids up and have a place they can have their music performed. We must encourage symphonies to commission new pieces. We have to grow the audience, grow the students. Make it available.”

Jeanne’s passion is tangible. She affirmed anyone can advance causes they care about. For her, it’s been passion, drive, lots of networking and, as she put it, “sweat equity.” “People think it’s about money. Yeah, you need money to do things but you can get a lot done by some money and a lot of sweat equity. You’d be surprised what you can get done just by working on it. You see people all over the country doing amazing things, but it’s all sweat equity.”

“If I can encourage composers . . . well, that’s just what we’re really trying to do, get these areas of interest, of passion, supported.” And, she explained, “These kids are geniuses. Why wouldn’t you want to encourage a genius?”

(Springfield, Missouri)

Jeanne Sinquefield Talks about Mizzou New Music Initiative on KMOX

In Print: Creating Original Music Program Winners

akordus — Mon, 26 Apr 2010 18:41:38 +0000

Independent News
Florissant, MO
38,000 readership (weekly)
April 8, 2010

Eureka-Pacific Current News Magazine
Franklin County
17,912 readership (weekly)
April 7, 2010

Pulse
St. Louis County
6,500 readership (monthly)
April 2010

Suburban Journal North
St. Louis County
34,294 readership (weekly)
March 31, 2010

Creating Original Music Competition Winners Get Statewide Media Coverage

akordus — Mon, 12 Apr 2010 20:00:23 +0000

Rockwood School District Newsletter
Rockwood Student Wins State Music Composition Award

Nick Funke, an eighth-grade student at Rockwood South Middle School in Fenton, was honored for his musical composition in the fifth annual Creating Original Music Project (COMP) Awards. Funke’s musical competitive piece titled, The Escape by Night, gained him a first-place win in the Middle School Fine Arts category.

Click here to go to the article.

Suburban Journal Jefferson – Print & Online
Fenton Student Among Competition Winners

COMP’s purpose is to encourage K-12 students in Missouri to write original musical works and have their music performed. More than 100 entrants submitted compositions, with first-place, second-place and third-place winners named in eight different categories.

Click here to go to the article.

Suburban Journal West – Print & Online
Students Win in Original Music Contest

Local winners include Jonathan Padgett and Jack Roth of Reed Elementary in Ladue, who took a second place in Elementary Instrumental for “JJ Jam;” Alexander Blank of Webster Groves High School, who took first place in High School Fine Art for “Clarinet Quid Libet;” Christopher John Poetz, a home school student from Eureka, who took first place in High School Other for “Journey of the Leaves;” and Kenneth Baker of Kirkwood High School, who took second in High School Other for “Highlands.”

Click here to go to the article.

Suburban Journal North – Print & Online
Students Win in Original Music Contest

Three local students recently won awards in the fifth annual Creating Original Music Project (COMP) contest, sponsored by the University of Missouri School of Music and the Sinquefield Chartiable Foundation.

Nichole Bryan, an elementary school student from North County Christian School, won an award for her instrumental piece “When the Rain Comes Down.”

Click here to go to the article.

Suburban Journal South – Print & Online
Students Win in Original Music Contest

Nick Funke, a student at Rockwood South Middle School in Fenton, was among 31 Missouri students who earned prizes in the fifth annual Creating Original Music Project, a joint venture of the University of Missouri School of Music and the Sinquefield Charitable Foundation. The project encourages students to write original musical works and have their music performed.

Click here to go to the article.

Independence School District Newsletter
Truman Student Declared Winner At Music Composition Competition

Truman High School Student Mitchell Kilpatrick was among 31 students across Missouri awarded prizes in the fifth annual Creating Original Music Project (C.O.M.P.), a joint venture of the University of Missouri School of Music and the Sinquefield Charitable Foundation.

Click here to go to the article.

The C.O.M.P. program is part of the University of Missouri’s New Music Initiative, a diverse array of programs intended to position the school as a leading center for music composition and new music. The initiative is a direct result of a $1 million donation by the Sinquefield Charitable Foundation.

Dr. Sinquefield and the Sinquefield Charitable Foundation, which is headquartered in Osage County, Missouri, have a long history of supporting organizations that enhance music, art and education. Dr. Sinquefield greatly values the lifelong benefits of exposure to music. Her passion for music comes alive each season as a bassist in the Columbia Civic Symphony Orchestra, the 9th Street Symphony in Columbia and the Jefferson City Symphony.

Winners Announced for Mizzou Statewide K-12 Music Competition

Rachel Keller Brown in the Post-Dispatch

akordus — Fri, 26 Mar 2010 13:53:50 +0000

St. Louis Post Dispatch: Deb Peterson’s Breaking Schmooze
March 25, 2010

Local political consultant, fundraiser and Rex Sinquefield aide named to Catholic schools foundation

CATHOLIC SCHOOL AID: Rachel Keller Brown, a political consultant, fundraiser and chief of staff for philanthropist Rex Sinquefield, has been elected to the St. Louis Archdiocesan Today and Tomorrow Educational Foundation.

The non-profit foundation was founded in 1990 by a group of local corporate and civic leaders to provide need-based tuition assistance for poor children. To date, the foundation has raised more than $27 million for tuition assistance through grants and scholarships for children to attend a private or parochial school in St. Louis.

Keller Brown is a co-founder of Pelopidas, an influence management firm, and president of Keller Capital Group, a fundraising and political consulting firm. As chief of staff for Sinquefield, she advises him on political and philanthropic giving programs, manages issue advocacy regarding education reform and tax policy and oversees daily operations and special projects.

She also serves on the board of the Missouri History Museum.

Sinquefield Charitable Foundation Donates $500,000 for Low Income Scholarships

The Art of Giving: Sinquefield’s in Ladue News

admin — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 16:51:12 +0000

Ladue News - by Tony DiMartino
March 4, 2010

Local Philanthropists: The Art of Giving

It’s better to give than to receive, but why? We asked two local philanthropists what inspires them to share their time, expertise and wealth.

The commencement speaker at Glenn Sheffield’s graduation from Smith College was a young senator named John F. Kennedy. “He spoke about the importance of getting directly involved,” recalls Sheffield, chairman of the board of the Arts and Education Council. “He urged us to run for office one day. He made me see that philanthropy isn’t just about giving money, but giving time and caring.”

Sheffield heeded the call, serving as mayor of Webster Groves from 1986 to 1994. An enthusiastic patron of the arts, she is now on the boards of Opera Theatre of Saint Louis and the St. Louis Public Library Foundation. “The arts are the soul of a community, and they create jobs, too, not just for the performers, but for carpenters, electricians and many others,” she says. “But they’re an expensive undertaking, and government grants and other funding sources stretch only so far. It’s up to private donors to fill the gaps.”

Sheffield calls hands-on community involvement “incredibly energizing and rewarding,” and advises a direct approach: “Don’t wait for a cause to knock on your door. Identify what you care about, what excites you, what you want to preserve, then write a check, volunteer, or both.” She acknowledges that the plunging economy has had a negative impact on giving. “Some people feel that if they can’t make as substantial a gift as they used to, they might as well not make a gift at all,” she says. “But it’s not always the big gifts that tip the balance–it’s lots of small gifts. Only ‘nothing’ is ‘not enough.’”

Rex Sinquefield is considered by many financial experts to be one of the top 10 investment gurus in the world. He developed some of the nation’s first index funds and was instrumental in forming Dimensional Fund Advisors, which oversees about $150 billion in assets worldwide. He is president and co-founder of the Show-Me Institute, a free-market think tank. But he is equally known for his philanthropic activities. He and his wife, Jeanne Sinquefield, Ph.D., head the Sinquefield Charitable Foundation, based in Osage County, Mo.

It’s no coincidence that the Sinquefields are committed to supporting organizations related to children and education. Sinquefield was raised in an orphanage; Jeanne’s mother was hospitalized during most of her childhood. “There are many ways to help a child, be it innovative schooling, the arts or extracurricular activities,” Sinquefield says. “Philanthropy supports the existence of institutions that provide opportunities to children from all walks of life.”

Among the Sinquefields’ favorite projects are the Saint Louis Chess Club and Scholastic Center, which encourages the development of chess programs in public schools; and the New Music Initiative at the University of Missouri-Columbia, which sponsors composition scholarships, original music projects, a new music summer festival and, coming soon, a summer camp for future composers.

Sinquefield is on the board of numerous arts and education organizations, including the Missouri Botanical Garden, Missouri History Museum, St. Louis Art Museum and Saint Louis Symphony Orchestra. “Jeanne and I care about Missouri and St. Louis, and we want to help in whatever way we can,” he says. He advises would-be philanthropists to dive right in. “Pick an organization you’re interested in, call the development people and ask how you can get involved. Do they need volunteers? Do they have different donor levels? Do they have a ‘friends’ group? Believe me, they’ll welcome you. There is no activity more rewarding than giving.”

To learn more about Rex & Jeanne Sinqufield and to read more about their projects visit the Sinquefield Charitable Foundation website.

Sinquefield Music Composition News in Print and on Air Last Weekend

Listen as Rex Sinquefield talks taxes with Post-Dispatch

Jack — Mon, 01 Mar 2010 18:11:49 +0000

STLToday.com - By Virginia Young
February 27, 2010
19:49

A major state tax overhaul pushed by retired investment banker Rex Sinquefield is headed for Senate debate, possibly as early as this week.

Sinquefield sat down recently with the Post-Dispatch editorial board and a few reporters to explain the plan, which would repeal the individual and corporate income taxes and replace the money with higher sales taxes on a greatly broadened base.

A constitutional amendment, the plan would be placed on the statewide ballot if approved by the Legislature. Sinquefield told the Post-Dispatch that if legislators don’t approve it, he will eventually consider financing an initiative petition drive to get the issue before voters.

He has already sunk $1 million into an initiative drive to repeal the St. Louis and Kansas City earnings taxes.

Look for an overview of the state proposal in Sunday’s Post-Dispatch and today on stltoday.com.

Here are some audio clips of his views, which are sure to be debated:

On income taxes:	On his research:
On states without income taxes:	On giving to political candidates:
On how the poor would fare:	On sales tax exemptions:
On the new sales tax rate:

To learn more about Rex Sinquefield and his passion for Missouri, read his full bio on the Sinquefield Charitable Foundation website.

Article in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.

Post-Dispatch Interviews Jeanne Sinquefield about New Music Initiative

Sinquefield Music Composition News in Print and on Air Last Weekend

Jack — Mon, 15 Feb 2010 17:38:16 +0000

KTRS - Saint Louis Talk Radio
February 13, 2010
5:05

Philanthropist and string base player Jeanne Sinquefield discusses her dream of making Missouri a mecca for new music composition during the 6:00 p.m. Shaw Spotlight on Saint Louis Radio Station KTRS. The Sinquefield Charitable Foundation-sponsored Mizzzou New Music Initiative offers young composers countless opportunities.

Click Here to listen.

Columbia Tribune - Daily Mid-Missouri Newspaper
February 14, 2010
By Aarik Danielsen

Excursions for the ears and heart

Bruce Gordon is a soft-spoken, unassuming gentleman. Consequently, when a steady stream of superlatives rolls off his tongue — in the service of saying he’s more excited about the Columbia Civic Orchestra’s upcoming concerts than he’s been in his entire 15-year station with the group — it’s worth finding out why.

For the orchestra’s manager and a member of its French horn section, joy springs from the one-two programming punch CCO is poised to deliver. Starting with Saturday’s set of “Modern Excursions,” Gordon said the cumulative creative effect of this season’s final two gigs will potentially be greater and more electrifying than any pairing he can remember.

A CCO-guided jaunt through works from the past 100 years, the concert begins with an incredibly recent offering — Alex Blanton’s “Boulevard of Broken Dreams.” Commissioned for the CCO by the Sinquefield Charitable Foundation, the MU graduate’s piece “alternates between languid, slow sections and driving, fast passages” in “schizophrenic” fashion, a CCO news release said.

German master Paul Hindemith’s “Symphonic Metamorphosis on Themes of Weber” follows; based on themes from 19th-century predecessor Carl Maria Von Weber, Hindemith’s piece “has the distinction of being as loved by musicians that play it as by audiences,” Gordon said. The evening concludes with MU faculty member Natalia Bolshakova at the piano for Prokofiev’s “Piano Concerto No. 3 in C Major.”

“This is the kind of piece where audiences generally stand up and shout,” Gordon said. “Unconventional” harmonies resolve in the “glowing” finale of a piece that’s “so exciting … beautiful … strange in its own way,” he said.

CCO’s final performance of the season — slated for April 23 — includes a work whose magnitude is unparalleled. In tandem with the MU Choral Union and with Paul Crabb on the conductor’s podium, the orchestra will present Bach’s “Mass in B Minor.” Gordon said he unequivocally believes the masterwork, written between 1724 and 1749, to be the single most important piece of sacred music ever composed. NPR’s Ted Libbey seemed to agree when he wrote last year, “The Mass in B minor is as lofty in design, scope and expression as anything written by the hand of man.”

Pulling off the piece Gordon called “a pillar of light” will require a collaboration between hundreds of musicians and the procurement of at least one very rare instrument — Bach’s score calls for two oboes d’amore, which Gordon described as something of an ancient hybrid of the oboe and English horn. The piece also employs three piccolo trumpets, also atypical. “It’s a tremendous undertaking — the scope of this has not been attempted in the volunteer musical segment in this town ever, as far as I can tell,” he said.

“Modern Excursions” begins at 7 p.m. Saturday at the Missouri Theatre Center for the Arts, 203 S. Ninth St. For more information on this program and the rest of the CCO season, visit cco.missouri.org or call 442-1042.

Find this article in the Sunday paper or on the Columbia Daily Tribune Website

Find more information on any of the programs referenced in the audio by visiting the New Music Initiative section of the University of Missouri: School of Music website.

To learn more about Jeanne Sinquefield and her passion for making Missouri a mecca for new music composition, read her full bio on the Sinquefield Charitable Foundation website.

Sinquefield Charitable Foundation Establishes New Muic Program at University of Missouri

St. Louis Healthy Marriage Coalition on KPLR Noon News Show

Jack — Fri, 12 Feb 2010 16:17:43 +0000

The St. Louis Healthy Marriage Coalition is dedicated to the support and encouragement of healthy marriages and families through education and community awareness. Sound relationships in homes, places of worship, schools, and work impact the quality of life for all of us. With respect and understanding, we bring like-minded people and organizations together to encourage and promote healthy relationship skills in the St. Louis community.

For more on the St. Louis Healthy Marriage Coalition visit: www.stl-healthymarriage.org.

Watch more from SLHMC – news broadcasts, relationship-help TV segments and commercials:

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St. Louis Healthy Marriage Coalition Commences Next Video

On Air – St. Louis Radio Station Classic 99 Interviews Jeanne Sinquefield

Jack — Thu, 11 Feb 2010 17:46:31 +0000

KFUO - Classic 99
February 11, 2010
19:49

This morning Jeanne Sinquefield discussed the Mizzou New Music Initiative on KFUO Classic 99.

Click below to listen.

Find more information on any of the programs referenced in the audio by visiting the New Music Initiative section of the University of Missouri: School of Music website.

To learn more about Jeanne Sinquefield and her passion for making Missouri a mecca for new music composition, read her full bio on the Sinquefield Charitable Foundation website.

KFUO Website

Post-Dispatch Interviews Jeanne Sinquefield about New Music Initiative

Jeanne Sinquefield Talks about Mizzou New Music Initiative on KMOX

Jack — Fri, 05 Feb 2010 18:14:19 +0000

KMOX - News Radio 1120
February 5, 2010
4:32

Jeanne Sinquefield was interviewed today at 8:40 A.M. on “Total Information AM” by hosts Debbie Monterrey and Doug McElvein.

What is the Mizzou New Music Initiative?

“It started about five years ago. We decided to have a competition for your composers, K-12. And the result was overwhelming. They come to Mizzou. They get a cash prize, their school gets a cash prize and these young composers crawled out of the woodwork. So we added a high school summer camp. The only one in the country. And they came out of the woodwork. Then the college students started ragging “what about us?” So going forward we are going to have eight full undergraduate rides for young composers. A full four year scholarship, room and board at Mizzou. This summer we’re having a college summer camp for the best young composers in the world at Mizzou. And we had hundreds of applications.”

What kind of music are we talking about?

For K-12 it’s pretty much anything the kids come in with. We have beautiful what you might call classical, symphonic music, we have pop, rag, rock. And then in the college area we have stuff from ragtime to classical this year. We have something called the Sinquefield Prize for kids to apply for at Mizzou. This year its won by a guitarist. He’s writing a concerto for guitar.

What we’re trying to do is make Mizzou a mecca for composition. In every other area there’s huge focus, but not in composition.

Do you find there is a huge demand for this, especially since a lot of schools have cut music programs because of funding issues, but obviously a lot of kids are still interested in pursuing it?

Each year that we’ve done the K-12, we get more applicants…and the talent is overwhelming. I had a 16 year old who wrote an entire symphony in ten days because she heard it in her head and just wrote it down. We did a documentary in 2008 called Genius Among Us and every young composer we talked to had the same thing. You’d ask them about composition and they’d say “I hear it in my head.”

What does the calendar look like for this whole thing?

For K-12 they have to submit it by first of January. And then they come to Mizzou and preform their pieces here in March. For the college stuff, the kids are applying for these full rides in the fall. For summer camp the application is over for this year, but every year we are going to be having these things.

Click here to find it on the KMOX website.

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Post-Dispatch Interviews Jeanne Sinquefield about New Music Initiative