Thomas Piercy is an American clarinetist and hichiriki player based in New York City, USA and Tokyo, Japan. Although he studied in the United States, his playing style has been influenced by the English school of clarinet playing through studies with English clarinetist Gervase de Peyer. He performs on rare large bore, rosewood clarinets hand made for him by Luis Rossi, and Buffet Prestige clarinets with Opperman mouthpieces and barrels. His performances of classical music by Brahms, Beethoven and contemporary composers have been reviewed in the New York Times.
He has performed contemporary pieces written for him, including Ned Rorem's only piece for clarinet and piano. He premiered this piece - "Four Colors" - at an 80th birthday concert celebration for Rorem at Carnegie Hall in 2003.
He has performed several times at the International Clarinet Festival. This has included including a concert in memory of Russianoff in 1991, a concert of contemporary American music in Japan in 2005, an Ástor Piazzolla program at the 2007 festival in Vancouver, and conducting and performing a nuevo tango program of music by Astor Piazzolla and a premiere by Michele Mangani at the 2016 ClarinetFest in Kansas City. Piercy was a headline artist at the 2025 ClarinetFest in which he premiered composer Bin Li's "Netori, Netori", a concerto for clarinet with gagaku ensemble and string orchestra.
Gotham Ensemble
Piercy is the artistic director and clarinetist of the Gotham Ensemble. A mixed vocal and instrumental ensemble based in New York City, the Gotham Ensemble premieres, performs and records music, from the Classical to the avant-garde. Their performance of Olav Thommessen's music in a concern at Merkin Hall, New York City, was described in the New York Times as "pay[ing] more attention to the musical fundamentals of Mr. Thommessen's style than its larger implications. They drew out brilliantly the shimmering sonic richness".[1] After a performance of Ned Rorem's "Ariel" at Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall, Rorem described Gotham as one of America's important chamber music groups performing new music.[2]Albany Records released Gotham Ensemble Plays Ned Rorem, a CD of Ned Rorem's chamber music featuring the clarinet.
Other work
As a teacher he has contributed to books on clarinet studies and clarinet fingerings.
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