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Born in Arizona in 1974, Mr. Pierce grew up in Phoenix studying classical guitar. His primary studies were with renowned guitarist Frank Koonce, with additional instruction from, among others, Manuel Barrueco, Christopher Parkening, Eliot Fisk and Pepe Romero. Mr. Pierce began studying composition at Arizona State University with composer James DeMars, and later at the Peabody Conservatory and the Aspen Music Festival and School as a composition fellow under Christopher Rouse and Nicholas Maw. His primary studies have been with composers Christopher Theofanidis, Justin Dello-Joio, and Chinary Ung. He is currently a Doctoral student at the University of Toronto under Gary Kulesha.
Mr. Pierce has been the recipient of many awards; most recently, in 2006 he was awarded the Karen Kieser Prize for his work Melody with Gesture, written for the National Arts Centre Young Composers Programme where it was premiered in Southam Hall by l’orchestre francophonie canadienne led by it’s Music Director and Conductor Jean Philippe Tremblay.. Other prominent awards include the Macht Orchestral Composition Competition, the Virginia Carty de-Lillo Prize for chamber music, and the P. Bruce Blair Award in Composition. He has also been honored in recent years with fellowships and Grants from the National Arts Centre (Ottawa), 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 in Ottawa; 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.
His work is performed frequently throughout the U.S., Canada, South America, Europe and most recently, New Zealand. For more information and upcoming performances visit www.christopherwilliampierce.com.
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