Tewolde wrote the piece, 鈥淲aves on the Shore鈥� as part of Mizzou鈥檚 New Music Initiative. Students in Mizzou鈥檚 composition program apply to get the chance to hear their pieces played by SLSO musicians.

鈥淭his is my first time working with musicians from a symphony orchestra,鈥� Tewolde says. 鈥淭he musicians are really high caliber, so it鈥檚 very exciting.鈥�

The orchestra includes the piece as part of its Live at the Sheldon concert series. The theme for the April 24 concert is wind and water, and all of the pieces performed draw on that fluidity.

鈥淭he water motif is a character in the piece,鈥� Tewolde says of his composition. 鈥淢eaning it describes a certain phenomena: waves crashing on the shore. It鈥檚 very high energy.鈥�

Tewolde says he鈥檚 written about 10 compositions before this, and even had them played on campus by Mizzou鈥檚 New Music Ensemble. In fact, he submitted a piece he wrote for that ensemble in his application for the New Music Initiative.

鈥淚 needed to give the New Music Initiative materials so they could go to the 蜜芽传媒 Symphony Orchestra and say, 鈥極K, here are different composition students, and here are their different kinds of work. Who do you want to work with?鈥欌€� Tewolde says.

His application piece combined jazz with lyrical writing and some experimental 鈥渁nxious鈥� sounds, Tewolde says.

As a musician, Tewolde straddles the classical and jazz worlds. He first came to music through classical piano, which he started in second grade. In seventh grade, he started playing the saxophone as well. He attended Rock Bridge High School in Columbia, Missouri, where he鈥檚 from.

鈥淚 play classical piano at school, and I鈥檓 in a jazz ensemble for saxophone as well,鈥� Tewolde says. 鈥淪o my music kind of fits between those two realms.鈥�

Tewolde found out that he鈥檇 be contributing a piece to the SLSO concert series last fall and started working on it in a composition class he was taking with Selim G枚nc眉, a postdoctoral fellow in music composition at Mizzou. Despite already having compositions written, everyone in the New Music Initiative writes a new piece. Tewolde says it took four months to write.

For his composition, he drew on the jazz-pop idiom. 鈥淭he first section of the piece is similar to a jazz ballad like 鈥楾here Will Never Be Another You,鈥欌€� Tewolde says.

He brought in the classical aspect when he was thinking of his orchestration. He was instructed to write the piece for a piano and woodwind quintet.

鈥淚 was asking myself, 鈥業 have this instrument playing, but how are the other instruments going to support this instrument in the melody?鈥欌€� he says. 鈥淚 drew a lot of inspiration from classical pieces like Francis Poulenc鈥檚 Sextet for Piano and Winds or Nikolai Kapustin鈥檚 Flute Trio.鈥�

He communicated regularly with the SLSO about the composition, and it was a learning experience for Tewolde, who is used to his collaborators being nearby.

鈥淢ost of the time when I write pieces, it鈥檚 for students at the University of Missouri,鈥� Tewolde says. 鈥淪o whenever I had a question, I鈥檇 just run into them in the halls.鈥�

Writing this piece though required more deliberate communication over Zoom or via email. 鈥淚 had to be very concise in what I wanted to say,鈥� Tewolde says.

In addition to Tewolde鈥檚 piece, the symphony ensemble will play pieces from Ravel, Poulenc, Florent Schmitt, Giles Silvestrini and Germaine Tailleferre.

Tewolde鈥檚 piece is the last from this year鈥檚 initiative to get its debut. From January through April, the SLSO has been playing the new compositions from different students in its Live at the Sheldon concert series.

The students whose works have already premiered are Seda Balci, a second-year master鈥檚 student; Henry Rusten, a sophomore; Harry Gonzalez, a master鈥檚 student; Atticus Schlegel, a senior; and JT Wolfe, also a senior at Mizzou.

鈥淚t鈥檚 a huge job,鈥� says SLSO violinist Celeste Golden Andrews, who curated the concert on March 6 that featured Rusten鈥檚 piece, 鈥淧aradigm Shift.鈥� 鈥淚 wouldn鈥檛 know the first thing about how to write a piece of music like that. I certainly admire an 18-year-old who has accomplished something like that.鈥�

The New Music Initiative started in 2010. According to Stefan Freund, artistic director for the program, the goal is to 鈥渆stablish the University of Missouri and the state of Missouri as a center for the creation and performance of new music.鈥� The initiative includes the Mizzou International Composers Festival, which selects eight composers to have their work performed by Alarm Will Sound, a classical music ensemble.

For Mizzou students, there are opportunities to write new music, as well as perform with the Mizzou New Music Ensemble. 鈥淭he opportunities that our (bachelor鈥檚 of music) students receive are truly unique,鈥� Freund says.

Tewolde isn鈥檛 just a music composition student. He also studies biological engineering, which he says doesn鈥檛 offer many applications for in music. 鈥淚 have found more applications for other kinds of engineering, like electrical,鈥� he says.

Tewolde says that he initially came to music through his heritage. His parents are from Eritrea, and in Columbia there is actually a large (relative to the population of Columbia) Eritrean community.

鈥淲e would have these semi-annual gatherings here and meet up in Cosmo Park,鈥� Tewolde says. They鈥檇 reserve a gazebo and share food and dance. 鈥淓ritrean dancing is a lot more communal. It鈥檚 a way to connect with other people.鈥�

So from a young age, Tewolde saw music as a way to connect and have fun. 鈥淢uch of what I aspire to do with my music stems from (that) experience,鈥� he says.

A previous version of this article incorrectly stated the year the New Music Initiative started. We regret the error.