Alan Emanuel Pierson (born May 12, 1974, Chicago, Illinois) is an American conductor. His parents are Elaine Pierson and Edward S. Pierson, the latter an engineering professor at Purdue University Calumet. [1] In Chicago Pierson took piano and composition lessons at the People's Music School, [2] graduating high school at Francis W. Parker. [3] Pierson is a 1996 graduate of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology with degrees in music and physics. At MIT, he was a timpanist and an assistant conductor with the MIT Symphony Orchestra, and also a composer. [4] [5]
Pierson continued his studies in music at the Eastman School of Music, where he was a co-founder of the new music ensemble Ossia. Subsequently, he was a co-founder of the related new music ensemble Alarm Will Sound, which gave its first concert in 2001. Pierson became the first music director of Alarm Will Sound in the same year, and continues to serve in the post.
In January 2011, Pierson was named the artistic director of the former Brooklyn Philharmonic. [6] When the orchestra suspended operations in 2013 his contract was not renewed. [7] Pierson also serves as principal conductor of the Crash Ensemble in Ireland, and has guest conducted with the Los Angeles Philharmonic, [8] Chicago Symphony, [9] Los Angeles Opera, [10] New World Symphony, [11] Orchestra of St. Luke's, [12] Beth Morrison Projects, [13] and Symphoniker Hamburg. [14]
Pierson has resided in New York City since 2002. [15] He is currently on faculty at Northwestern University [16] and conducts at Mannes College. [17]
In February 2013, Pierson was featured on the Radiolab episode "Speedthoven". [18]
The Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra is a Dutch symphony orchestra based in Rotterdam. Its primary venue is the concert hall De Doelen. The RPhO is considered one of the Netherlands' two principal orchestras of international standing, second to the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra of Amsterdam. In addition to symphony concerts, the RPhO performs as the opera orchestra in productions at De Nederlandse Opera, as do other Dutch ensembles.
The Hamilton Philharmonic Orchestra (HPO) is a professional Canadian orchestra based in Hamilton, Ontario. The orchestra gives concerts primarily at the FirstOntario Concert Hall.
Semyon Mayevich Bychkov is a Soviet-born American conductor. He currently holds the position of chief conductor and artistic director of the Czech Philharmonic.
Kristjan Järvi is an Estonian American conductor, composer and producer. Born in Tallinn, Estonia, he is the younger son of the conductor Neeme Järvi and brother of conductor Paavo Järvi and flutist Maarika Järvi.
Markus Stenz is a German conductor. He studied at the Hochschule für Musik Köln with Volker Wangenhein and at Tanglewood with Leonard Bernstein and Seiji Ozawa.
There have been several organisations referred to as the Brooklyn Philharmonic. The most recent one was the now-defunct Brooklyn Philharmonic Symphony Orchestra, an American orchestra based in the New York City borough of Brooklyn, in existence from the 1950s until 2012. In its heyday it was called "groundbreaking" and "one of the most innovative and respected symphony orchestras of modern times".
JoAnn Falletta is an American conductor.
Joseph Horowitz is an American cultural historian who writes mainly about the institutional history of classical music in the United States. As a concert producer, he promotes thematic programming and new concert formats. His tenure as artistic advisor and subsequently executive director of the Brooklyn Philharmonic at the Brooklyn Academy of Music (1992–1997) attracted national attention for its radical departure from tradition. He is the host of the "More than Music" radio series on 1A, distributed by NPR.
Sidney Harth was an American violinist and conductor.
David Hayes is an American conductor.
David Alan Miller is a multi-Grammy Award-winning American symphony orchestra conductor, and since 1992, music director of the Albany Symphony Orchestra. Miller served as assistant and associate conductor of the Los Angeles Philharmonic from 1987–92 and music director of the New York Youth Symphony from 1982-88. He is currently also Artistic Advisor to both the Sarasota Orchestra and to The Little Orchestra Society in New York City.
Miguel Alberto Harth-Bedoya is a Peruvian conductor. He was formerly music director of the Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra from 2000 to 2020 and chief conductor of the Norwegian Radio Orchestra from 2013 to 2020. Starting the Fall of 2023, Harth-Bedoya became the Mary Franks Thompson Director of Orchestral Studies and Music Director of the Baylor University Symphony Orchestra.
Jeffrey Alan Kahane is an American classical concert pianist and conductor. He was music director of the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra for 20 years, the longest of any music director in the orchestra's history. He is the music director of the Sarasota Music Festival, a program of the Sarasota Orchestra, music director-designate of the San Antonio Philharmonic, and a professor of keyboard studies (Piano) at the USC Thornton School of Music in Los Angeles, California.
Alan Heatherington is one of the leading orchestra conductors in Illinois. He has conducted and/or played with virtually all of the major orchestras in the Chicago area. He was the Music Director of Ars Viva Symphony Orchestra, the Lake Forest Symphony Orchestra and the Chicago Master Singers, and is Music Director Emeritus of all three ensembles.
David T. Little is a Grammy-nominated American composer, record producer, and drummer known for his operatic, orchestral, and chamber works, most notably his operas JFK,Soldier Songs, and Dog Days which was named a standout opera of recent decades by The New York Times. He is the artistic director of Newspeak, an eight-piece amplified ensemble that explores the boundaries between rock and classical music, and is the Chair of the composition faculty at Mannes School of Music.
Kenji Bunch is an American composer and violist. Bunch currently serves as the artistic director of Fear No Music and teaches at Portland State University, Reed College, and for the Portland Youth Philharmonic. He is also the director of MYSfits, the most advanced string ensemble of the Metropolitan Youth Symphony.
The Pasadena Symphony and POPS is an American orchestra based in Pasadena, California. In 2010, it took up residence at the Ambassador Auditorium, where its Classics Series runs from October through April. Since 2012, it performs a summer series at the Los Angeles County Arboretum and Botanic Garden from June through September.
Gum Nanse is a South Korean conductor. In 1977, he was the first Korean to win the prize at the Herbert von Karajan Conductors' Competition in Berlin. He is currently the General and Artistic Director of the Seongnam Philharmonic Orchestra. He is also the founder and Artistic Director of New World Philharmonic Orchestra. He served as the principal of Seoul Arts High School from 2013 to 2019. Gum Nanse Music Center (GMC), a concert hall dedicated to chamber music under his name, was opened in April, 2021 in Busan.
Christopher Rountree is an American conductor known for founding the Los Angeles chamber group wild Up, an ensemble that blends new music, classical repertoire, performance art and pop. Wild Up was named "Best Classical Music of 2012" by the Los Angeles Times.
This article lists major events and other topics related to classical music in 2016.