ST. LOUIS, MO (KTVI) – Lileana Ibur, 13, is a singer-songwriter.  She just won the annual COMP (Creating Original Music Project) contest put on by the University of Missouri-Columbia.

The Wydown Middle School student composed an original song titled, “Nothing Boy”. She is performing it this Saturday, April 21 at Mizzou at the COMP Music Festival.

Found online at: http://fox2now.com/2012/04/18/wydown-middle-school-student-wins-mizzou-contest/

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Creating Original Music Project (C.O.M.P.) rewards student composers from across Missouri

For 2012, a total of 22 elementary, middle school and high school students from across Missouri have been awarded prizes in the competition. As a reward for their work, they’ll get a chance to perform their winning compositions at the 2012 Creating Original Music Project Festival. The Festival will take place:

C.O.M.P. is a joint venture of the University of Missouri School of Music and the Sinquefield Charitable Foundation, which provides an annual gift of $50,000 to sponsor the competition. The program was created in 2005 to encourage K-12 students in Missouri to write original musical works and to encourage performances of those works. The 2012 competition had a total of 94 entries in eight different categories, with winners ranging in age from eight years old to 18.

“Since we first started C.O.M.P. seven years ago, we’ve had nearly 500 entries from young composers across the state,” said Jeanne Sinquefield of the Sinquefield Charitable Foundation. “A number of them have gone on to become multiple winners, and we’re delighted to give them an opportunity to express themselves and develop their skills. Their success is an indication of real progress towards our goal of making Missouri a center for the composition of new music.”

The 2012 Creating Original Music Project (C.O.M.P.) competition categories and winners include:

Elementary – Song with words
1) Menea Vladi Kefalov & Ande Celeste Siegel of Reed Elementary School, St. Louis, for “War.” Music teacher: Sarah Schwartz.
2) Elizabeth Y. Murray of Reeds Spring Elementary, Reeds Springs, for “The Road Home Song.” Music teacher: Sue Gillen.
3) Grace Filer of Harrisonville Christian School, Harrisonville, for “Only Holy One.” Music teacher: Kay Schrock.

Elementary – Instrumental
1) Hyun Jun (John) Yoo of Fairview Elementary, Columbia, for “Earthquake’s Destruction.” Music teacher: Sara Dexheimer.
2) Tristan Handy of Daniel Young Elementary, Blue Springs, for “Windswept Dreams.” Music teachers: Connie Bates and Debbie Gray.
3) Olivia Bennett of Mathews Elementary, Nixa, for “Count Olaf.” Music teacher: Annette Genung.

Middle School – Popular
1) Anthony Delia of Holy Infant School, Ballwin, for “Words.” Music teacher: Eric Henson.
2) Lileana Ibur of Wydown Middle School, Clayton, for “Nothing Boy.” Music teachers: Aaron Doerr and Jerry Estes.
3) Sarah Meadows of West Junior High, Columbia, for “Another New Day Begins.” Music teachers: Sutu Forte and James Melton.

Middle School – Fine Art
1) Savannah Kitchen of Lange Middle School, Columbia, for “Winter’s Waltz.” Music teachers: Suzanne Kitchen and Allison Schmidt.
2) Alice Ann Yu of West Junior High, Columbia, for “Traveling Around The World.” Music teachers: Mabel Kinder and Margaret Lawless.
3) Edward Tsang of Heartland High School, Belton, for “Dramatization.” Music teacher: Nah Han Dahmer.

High School – Fine Art
1) Gus Knobbe of Webster Groves High School, Webster Groves, for “Madness.” Music Teacher: Dane Williams
2) Carter Datz of Hickman High School, Columbia, for “Celtic Blessing.” Music Teacher: Matt Felts.
3) Bryan Gibson of Webb City High School, Webb City, for “Salva me.”
Music teacher: Diana Williams.

High School – Jazz
1) Benedetto Colagiovanni of Clayton High School, Clayton, for “Waltz For Bill.” Music Teachers: Rick Zelle and Alice Fasman.
2) Brandon Moore of Dexter High School, Dexter, for “Morning Jog.” Music teacher: Scott Rybolt.
3) Ben Bergstrom of Rock Bridge High School, Columbia, for “Nessy.” Music teacher: Steve Mathews.

High School – Popular
1) Ross Menefee of Hickman High School, Columbia, for “Turn Your Shoulder.” Music teacher: Denis Swope
2) Tanner Qualls, a home-schooled student from Lee’s Summit, for “Secrets and Lies.”
3) Jaron Christopher Geil, a home-schooled student from Grandview, for “This Crime.”

Each student who enters the competition must have the signature and sponsorship of his or her school’s music teacher. Community agencies, churches, after-school programs, private teachers and other musical mentors also may sponsor their young musicians in partnership with the student’s school music teacher.

The Creating Original Music Project (C.O.M.P) is part of the Mizzou New Music Initiative, a diverse array of programs intended to position the University of Missouri School of Music as a leading center in the areas of composition and new music. The Initiative is the direct result of the generous support of Dr. Jeanne and Mr. Rex Sinquefield and the Sinquefield Charitable Foundation.

For more information:

University of Missouri School of Music:
http://music.missouri.edu/

Mizzou New Music Initiative:
http://mizzounewmusic.missouri.edu/

Creating Original Music Project (C.O.M.P.):
http://music.missouri.edu/COMP/

Sinquefield Charitable Foundation:
http://www.sinquefieldcharitablefoundation.com/

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Missouri Student Composers Win Prizes In Statewide Music Competition

In addition to being an excellent player himself, Rex has devoted substantial time and resources to making St. Louis the destination for chess fans. He will be inducted into our state’s Sports Hall of Fame on January 29, 2012. Other inductees include former St. Louis Cardinal and eight-time Gold Glove winner Jim Edmonds, legendary Kansas City Chiefs cornerback Emmitt Thomas, and former NBA star and Mizzou guard Jon Sundvold.

Dr. Jeanne Sinquefield will also be honored at the ceremonies on January 29. She is receiving the Missouri Sports Hall of Fame Achievement Award for her instrumental role in the introduction of a Boy Scouts Merit Badge in Chess. Jeanne supports the teaching of chess in schools, where the sport contributes significantly to children’s math and critical thinking skills.

The team at Slay & Associates is proud to work with Rex and Jeanne Sinquefield and congratulates them on their Hall of Fame honors.

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Rex Sinquefield Inducted into the Missouri Sports Hall of Fame

Rex and Jeanne share the importance of tapping into undiscovered talents, finding and growing composition in Missouri, and the goals and success of the Missouri New Music Initiative.


A symposium of America’s leading arts donors

July 1, 2011

Tell Me Something I Don’t Know About Giving to the Arts

“Tapping Into Undiscovered Talents”

Just giving money to composers and music programs isn’t enough. The Missouri New Music

Initiative is designed to find composers, to assist them in the development of their skills by

arranging for them to work with musical groups, and to have their compositions performed by

encouraging orchestras and ensembles to perform newly commissioned pieces. In the last 6 years,

the Missouri New Music Initiative has resulted in more than 100 new pieces of music being written

by composers aged 7 to 82 and being performed by ensembles, symphonies, and other musical groups. Giving to the

arts is a great way to tap into undiscovered talents and interests. With some thought and planning, arts contributors

can inspire composers, musicians, and audiences to think in new ways, to see the world in a new light, and to appreciate

things that they never knew they liked or possibly did not know existed.

What is Your Favorite Hidden gem in Arts and Culture?

“Finding and Growing Composers in Missouri”

As the result of our dedication to finding and growing composers in Missouri, we are now finding

hidden gems of new music now are popping up in unexpected and wonderful places throughout

mid-Missouri and St. Louis. In the last five years, two mid-Missouri orchestras have performed a

total of 20 new compositions. Recently, a winning composition from the Creating Original Music

Program was played by an orchestra in Thailand and by the St. Louis Symphony’s Youth Orchestra.

A new project called the Sound of Art was inspired by collaborations with the Missouri Botanical Garden and the

Contemporary Art Museum of Missouri.

Tell Me about a Really Smart Grant to the Arts

“Missouri New Music Initiative”

There is music being composed in the minds of hundreds, perhaps thousands, of Missourians—music that is never

performed and never heard. The Sinquefield Charitable Foundation established the Missouri New Music Initiative t

o find and grow composers throughout the state and turn Missouri into a mecca for the original composition of music.

It began with the Creating Original Music Program for Missouri’s K–12th graders, in affiliation with the University of

Missouri–Columbia. The program is a competition for original compositions, where the winners receive a cash prize

and their entries are performed at our annual music festival. That program has expanded to a high school summer

camp, undergraduate and graduate level programs, a distance learning program, the Missouri New Music Ensemble,

and a New Music Summer Festival that attracts composers from all over the world to Missouri for a week-long

program.

—Index fund pioneer Rex Sinquefield co-founded Dimensional Fund Advisors (DFA). Jeanne Sinquefield oversaw trading at DFA and is a string bassist in three Missouri symphonies. They are co-founders of the Sinquefield Charitable Foundation.

Online at: http://www.philanthropyroundtable.org/article.asp?article=1682&paper=0&cat=149
http://www.philanthropyroundtable.org/article.asp?article=1683&paper=0&cat=149
http://www.philanthropyroundtable.org/article.asp?article=1685&paper=0&cat=149

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

By Kari Besharse on July 18, 2011

One of the things about the Mizzou New Music Summer Festival that has absolutely captivated me this week is the personal role that one of the primary donors, Dr. Jeanne Sinquefield, takes in the festival. I have never experienced this type of relationship before, and it has made me think a lot about the importance of patronage from private sources. I am familiar with funding that comes through various types of grants, either via non-profit organizations or local, state, and national arts councils, but I have never before been in a situation where a single private donor is so supportive, or is such an integral part of what she is funding. As a musician, I have often felt like the people who are in the best position to support the arts do not actually feel that art (especially the creation of new art) is an integral part of our culture or is worthy of support. However, here in Columbia, Missouri, the situation is unique—they have Jeanne Sinquefield.

Jeanne, who plays string bass in several local ensembles, first became interested in the idea of creating new music through one of her cousins, who was always writing music but could not actually notate or read the music that he was creating. Jeanne began to help her cousin out by writing some of his music down, and they would play the music together. From there, she became fascinated with how people create music and began to make plans to “grow composers.” Through a partnership with the University of Missouri School of Music, Jeanne started a three-tiered plan and often uses a baseball analogy to describe it. In the little league, K-12 students participate in the Creating Original Music Project, or COMP, which encourages students to compose music and culminates in a competition and performance of the winners’ music. The pony league allows high school students to further develop their skills as composers and ends in a competition and a summer camp. Jeanne considers the Mizzou New Music Summer Festival to be the major league. This festival brings eight emerging composers to Columbia where they receive a professional performance and recording of their piece by Alarm Will Sound.

I spoke with Jeanne during intermission of the concert Friday night entitled “Mizzou’s Right to Bear New Music.” Jeanne said that she could already see the results of her three-tiered plan—the number of students involved in the COMP project has already grown and many people in central Missouri have become involved in these programs and attend new music concerts. People in Columbia have also become more interested in and engaged with new music who would not have otherwise known about it except through these programs. This is the other side of the coin; Jeanne also sees the importance of bringing new audiences into the realm of contemporary music. From what I observed at the festival, it is working. All four concerts were well attended and the community members seemed curious and supportive, approaching performers and composers alike with questions and comments. The concert Friday night featured performances by members of the University of Missouri New Music Ensemble. I commented to Jeanne on how well the students were playing, and it turns out that Jeanne plays a big role in this as well. She supports five graduate assistantships for the new music ensemble.

From the very beginning of the festival, I was blown away by Jeanne’s generosity. In my first post, I mentioned that she invited us to her estate for dinner on the first night of the festival. She had also already been hosting Alarm Will Sound during the previous week, allowing them to use her lake house as a rehearsal space. In addition, Jeanne hosts artists for residencies and presents other concerts at her home. So, for me, it’s not just the fact that the Sinquefields donated the money to start the programs involved in the Mizzou New Music Initiative, it’s that she has such a personal relationship with the music-making she is supporting. Jeanne was at all of the concerts, and she is exuberant about her plans to transform Columbia into a “Mecca for new music.”

For more information about Jeanne Sinquefield and her involvement in the Mizzou New Music Initiative as well as her other philanthropic activities, visit the Sinquefield Charitable Foundation website.

From NewMusicBox, online at: http://www.newmusicbox.org/articles/mizzou-new-music-summer-festival-the-importance-of-patronage/

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Mizzou New Music Summer Festival announces selection of eight resident composers for 2011

TONY MESSENGER

Thursday, January 27, 2011 12:00 am

JEFFERSON CITY • Like star Brazilian soccer players, the most prolific campaign donor in Missouri politics is known by one name.

Say “Rex” in the Capitol and there is no doubt who you are talking about.

Ever since he burst on the state’s political scene by putting his money behind the school choice movement, retired St. Louis investor Rex Sinquefield, who also has a home in Wesphalia, Mo., has become one of the state’s biggest movers and shakers.

Chess, not soccer, is Sinquefield’s game, but when he starts moving pieces around, the state’s politicians listen.

Such has been the case over the past couple of weeks when Sinquefield pushed the “local control” issue to the front burner.

For years, St. Louis leaders have sought to return the control of its Police Department to the city from the governor, who has appointed the board that oversees local cops since the Civil War. The feeling then — and now, in some circles — was that the city’s Police Department was too important to the state to be run by local politicians.

The arrangement has stuck for 150 years, and nearly every year a bill comes and goes in the Missouri Legislature seeking, and failing, to change it.

But never before has Sinquefield been involved.

Already, he’s made a difference.

Speaker of the House Steve Tilley, R-Perryville, now backs the measure, and that all but assures it will get through the House, where the bill has already passed committee and is ready to go to the floor.

On Wednesday, the bill received its first Senate hearing, and Sen. Joe Keaveny, D-St. Louis, is more confident than ever that the bill will pass.

Sinquefield gives more money in Missouri politics than any other individual giver, and in Jefferson City, money talks. He’s Tilley’s top individual benefactor, and he also holds that title for St. Louis Mayor Francis Slay, a Democrat who testified in favor of local control in the Senate on Wednesday.

“Quite frankly, I’m glad he’s on my side,” Keaveny said. “There are outstate legislators who previously didn’t care much about this issue, and now they’re asking me to walk them through it. Rex’s involvement has raised the profile of local control.”

But for all of Sinquefield’s money, he hasn’t had much success in the legislative arena.

Part of that is because of the big ideas he’s pushing. There are a lot of obstacles to passing school choice, or his latest issue — the Fair Tax.

The mere mention of Sinquefield’s name causes some Democrats to protest his involvement. Keaveny gets that. “Some people resent the fact that Rex can speak so loudly,” he said. Even some Republicans bristle at the notion of Sinquefield getting all the attention in the local control issue, lest voters believe that his money is influencing their decision-making.

When I wrote last week of Sinquefield’s involvement in the local control issue, some St. Louis Democratic activists — including Adam Shriver — went to Twitter and the blogosphere to express their dismay.

Shriver’s concern: “I think we’d want to be very suspicious of this new collaboration, and ask what exactly he’s getting in return,” he wrote of Rex.

Sen. Maria Chappelle-Nadal, D-University City, made it clear where she stood on “Rex’s” involvement when she sarcastically referred to him as “his Rexiness.”

In some ways, though, Sinquefield’s involvement in the issue makes sense, despite his work bankrolling the initiative petition that could erase earnings taxes in St. Louis and Kansas City. While he has spent most of his political money on Republicans, he’s had the backing of city Democrats very early on who see school choice as a cure for the troubled city school district.

As Sinquefield’s lobbyist, Travis Brown, pointed out in the House hearing on local control: It makes sense for Sinquefield to support local control after pushing to have city residents have a say in their earnings tax.

One way or another, Sinquefield’s involvement in the issue completely changes the look of the chess board. Within a week of making his support public, Sinquefield gave $300,000 to a political action committee that filed initiative petitions to bring local control of police to both St. Louis and Kansas City. And Kansas City officials haven’t even asked for the change.

With Slay, the old soccer player, joining forces with Sinquefield, the chess master, the debate over local control has changed.

Whatever game is now being played, make no mistake, Rex intends to win.

Related posts:

Listen as Rex Sinquefield talks taxes with Post-Dispatch

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)

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Jeanne Sinquefield Talks about Mizzou New Music Initiative on KMOX

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.

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New Music Initiative and Sinquefields in Columbia Tribune’s Top 2009 News

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:

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.

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Listen up composers! Jeanne Sinquefield Talks Opportunity on KMOX