Missouri Symphony To Launch Missouri Heritage Recording Initiative With Carl Busch Release
The Busch recording represents the first installment of a continuing series.
The Missouri Symphony has released a new recording of Carl Busch's Ozarka Suite, marking the orchestra's first commercial recording project in decades and inaugurating a long-term initiative to research, restore, record, publish, and perform overlooked orchestral music connected to Missouri.
Produced in partnership with Missouri Makes Music, the recording serves as the pilot project for an ongoing effort to preserve Missouri's orchestral heritage through archival research, critical performance editions, professional recordings, and renewed performances of neglected works.
'We are called the Missouri Symphony,' said Music Director Wilbur Lin. 'While our audiences begin in Columbia, Jefferson City, and communities across mid-Missouri, our mission extends to serving the musical heritage of the entire state. Preserving and sharing Missouri's orchestral legacy is one way we can truly honor our name.'
The inaugural release features the music of Carl Busch (1862-1943), one of Missouri's most influential musical figures. A Danish-born composer, conductor, and educator, Busch led Kansas City's first symphony orchestra, later directed the Kansas City Philharmonic-the predecessor of today's Kansas City Symphony-and served among the founding faculty of what is now the University of Missouri-Kansas City Conservatory. Though widely performed during his lifetime, his music has largely disappeared from today's concert repertoire.
'When we think of American music today, we largely think of works from the mid-twentieth century onward,' said Lin. 'We rarely encounter American music rooted in the earlier Romantic tradition. Rediscovering works by composers from right here in Missouri reminds us that our state's musical heritage has been thriving for much longer than we often realize.'
The Busch recording represents the first installment of a continuing series. A second recording project has already been completed and is scheduled for release in 2027, while additional research, editions, recordings, and performances of works by Busch and other Missouri composers are currently underway.
About Missouri Makes Music
Missouri Makes Music is a project-based nonprofit and publishing initiative affiliated with the Missouri Symphony. Through research, editing, publication, recording, performance, and collaborative partnerships, it advances high-quality recording projects that showcase Missouri musicians while preserving and promoting Missouri's rich musical heritage. Guided by its mission to champion both Missouri composers and historically overlooked voices from around the world, Missouri Makes Music works to make significant repertoire accessible to musicians and audiences, creating a lasting legacy in which outstanding artists are recognized, forgotten works are heard again, and Missouri takes pride in its musical past and present.
Missouri Makes Music serves as the publishing and preservation partner for the initiative, working closely with the Missouri Symphony to prepare new performing editions, preserve archival materials, and make rediscovered repertoire available for future performances. Together, the organizations aim not only to document Missouri's musical history but also to return these works to the concert stage for orchestras, musicians, and audiences.
Wilbur Lin has established an international career as both conductor and musical researcher, pairing archival scholarship with modern performance and recording projects. His work has focused on bringing neglected orchestral repertoire back into the mainstream concert repertoire through collaboration with orchestras, libraries, and archives.
Founded in 1970, the Missouri Symphony is the professional orchestra serving Columbia, Jefferson City, and mid-Missouri. Under Lin's artistic leadership, the orchestra has expanded its commitment to preserving and promoting Missouri's own orchestral heritage alongside the standard symphonic repertoire.
.jpg?format=auto&width=365)
