The University of Missouri in Columbia has announced a $1 million donation from Jeanne and Rex Sinquefield to expand the emphasis on new music in the School of Music.

The gift will be used to support scholarships for student composers and a graduate-level ensemble that will perform new music in non-traditional venues on campus, in the community, and around the state. The gift also will fund a summer composition festival for undergraduates and graduate students featuring guest composers and professional ensembles-in-residence performing new compositions.

For four years the School of Music has been home to the Creating Original Music Project, an initiative funded by the Sinquefields and the St. Louis-based Sinquefield Charitable Foundation.

"The Sinquefields believe that new music should be a part of everyone's life," said MU School of Music director Robert Shay. "This gift will establish the School of Music as a center for new music, a destination for the best and brightest young composers, and a place where they can pursue their craft in a uniquely supportive environment."