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Born in Arizona in 1974, Christopher William Pierce grew up in Phoenix studying classical guitar. His primary studies were with renowned guitarist Frank Koonce. While remaining active as a performer, he began studying composition with composer James DeMars, and later as a composition fellow with Christopher Rouse and Nicholas Maw. His primary studies as a composer have been with Gary Kulesha, Christopher Theofanidis, and Justin Dello-Joio. Mr. Pierce holds degrees from the University of Toronto, Peabody Conservatory of Music and Arizona State University. He is currently an active composer and pianist living in Madison Wisconsin.
Mr. Pierce has been the recipient of many awards; in 2006 he was awarded the Karen Kieser Prize for his work Melody with Gesture, written for the National Arts Centre where it was premiered in Southam Hall by l’orchestre Francophonie Canadienne led by its Music Director and Conductor Jean Philippe Tremblay. The prize included cash, a nationally broadcast performance from Glen Gould Studio on CBC Radio, and the complete classical collection of the CBC label. Other prominent awards include the Macht Orchestral Competition for Aquarelle which included a cash prize and performance by the Peabody Symphony Orchestra; the Virginia Carty de-Lillo Prize for chamber music for his String Quartet which included prize money and performance by Quartato Invitato; and the P. Bruce Blair Award in Composition for outstanding achievements in music from the Peabody Conservatory. He has also been honored in recent years with fellowships and Grants from the National Arts Centre where he worked with Gary Kulesha and Augusta Reed Thomas, Peabody Conservatory, the Aspen Music Festival, and the Leonard Bernstein Fund.
His works have been performed by many notable Orchestras and Ensembles including the Arizona State University Symphony Orchestra, Aspen Academy Orchestra, Orchestre Francophonie Canadienne, Peabody Symphony Orchestra, São Paulo State Symphony, Aspen Contemporary Ensemble, Interrobang Ensemble, New York Contemporary Ensemble, Proteus Ensemble, and Quartato Invitato, to name a few. An advocate of working closely with performers to create new works, he has worked with many of the leading artists of his generation including soprano Kathryn Aaron, accordionist Ina Henning, guitarist Rob MacDonald and cellist Rebecca Turner.
Among his recently completed works are Suite for Cello; Variations on Wondrous Love (2006) for New Zealand born cellist Rebecca Turner; Melody with Gesture(2006), for the National Arts Centre; On a Poem of Baudelaire, ‘Je t'adore à l'égal de la voûte nocturne’ (2005) from Les Fleurs du Mal for high voice, accordion, two violin and viola for Soprano Kathryn Aaron and Accordionist Ina Henning; Images, for String Quartet and Guitar: Evening (Red Tree) (2005) and Suite, for guitar(2004) for guitar virtuoso Rob MacDonald. Currently he is much in demand with a growing list of commissions by such ensembles as Après, ChromaDuo, and the San Francisco Guitar Quartet.
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