Kathleen Pierson

(contact: PO Box 18022, Asheville, NC 28814; email to: kathleen -at- kathleenpierson -dot- com)

• Teacher of Music History/Appreciation and Theory/Fundamentals/Composition

• Dean's Award for teaching and interdisciplinary work, Towson University, 1999:
  "For your interdisciplinary work with the Dance Department; for your excellent teaching of large sections; and for your work with GENED education."

• Composer and Performer, with specialization in Music for Dance

• Invited accompanist for seventeen American College Dance Festival Association conferences; experienced in accompanying improvisationally for ballet, for improvisation/composition, and for all branches of academic modern dance including Cunningham, Hawkins, Limon, Horton, postmodern, Contact Improvisation, Laban-based and other current forms.

Current Highlights

Composition Highlight:

• May 4, 2008 premiere of 15-minute commissioned work Homeland Suite for SATB Chorus, Piano, Flute, Clarinet, and Horn, in Asheville, NC, at the Reuter Center on the UNC-Asheville campus, by Reuter Center Singers under the direction of Chuck Taft.

Music for Dance Highlight:

• March 12-16, 2008 invited accompanist at American College Dance Festival, hosted this year by the Goucher College Dance Department, Towson, MD; accompanying improvisationally for Master Classes in ballet, academic modern dance, and choreography/improvisation.

Teaching Highlight:

• Summer Session 2008 teaching summer course "Exploring Musical Composition" at the Reuter Center on the UNC-Asheville campus.

Education

MM (Master of Music, Composition) Towson University, Towson, MD, 1992

• 4.0 GPA
• Composition with Lawrence Crawford
• Orchestration/Arranging and Advanced Theory with Theldon Myers
• Bibliography/Research and Special Topics in History with James Anthony
• Jazz Improvisation with Greg Hatza, and performance with Choral Society

Additional Graduate Work (Electronic Music, Choreography) University of Arkansas, Fayetteville, AR, 1982

• 4.0 GPA
• Graduate Assistant, 1982
• Electronic Composition (using a Buchla 300) with Dale Millen
• Modern Dance Concert Choreography with Terry Brusstar

BA (Music) Goucher College, Towson, MD, 1971

• Music Theory and Composition with Robert Hall Lewis; Music History, Bibliography and Research, and Conducting with Elliott Galkin
• additional upper level coursework in sociology, comparative religion, Russian, and acoustics

Chronology

(click here to view sample syllabi, here to see student evaluations, here for more about the music for dance specialization, and here for audio/video examples of the music)

Currently (2008): Freelance composing, performing and teaching in Asheville, NC

2005-2007: Kent State University, Kent, OH: Full-time Staff Accompanist/Composer and Instructor

• teaching DAN 47095 Music for Dancers (Spring 2006; focus on music theory and fundamentals, with a history/choreography component)
• accompanying all majors' ballet and modern dance classes, and all Guest Artist classes
• composing/performing live for faculty choreography, creating complex computer mixes for choreography
• teaching students to use the computer to compose for their own choreographies

2004-2005: Kenyon College, Gambier, OH: Guest Artist

• accompanying ballet, modern dance, improvisation, and Guest Artist classes
• choreographing a large-group dance for the Spring choreography concert
• performing the music live onstage for two of the the Spring choreographies

2001-2004: Denison University, Granville, OH: Concurrently serving as Resident Musician in Dance and as part-time faculty in Music

• teaching MUS101 Music Appreciation (Fall 2002, Spring 2003)
• creating and teaching FYS102 Exploring New Media in Denison's multimedia production arts lab (Spring 2004)
• creating and teaching MUS220/320 (cross-listed as WMST220) Women in Music (Fall 2003, Spring 2004)
• teaching MUS219/319 World Music (Fall 2004)
• accompanying ballet, modern dance, improvisation, and Guest Artist classes
• composing and performing music for faculty and student choreography, including multimedia interdepartmental productions
• running the sound tech for all performances and recordings in the Dance Department
• advising choreographers regarding music and assisting with music for the World Dance component of the Dance Department

1990-2001: Towson University, Towson, MD: Concurrently, with variations in schedule from semester to semester, serving as
Adjunct Faculty in the Department of Music (1996-2001, teaching up to 20 credits/year as adjunct),
Head of Theory/Composition for the Preparatory Division (1993-2000),
and Musician for Dance (1990-2000 and 2003 summer dance program)

• Dean's Award for teaching and interdepartmental work
• teaching MUSC101 GenEd Music Appreciation 11 times
• creating and teaching MUSC205 Women in Music (cross-listed with WMST) eight times
• teaching MUSC107 Music Fundamentals (emphasis on practical Theory for classroom teaching) twice
• creating and teaching the (required for Dance majors) Music for Dance course twice
• serving as Head of Theory/Composition for the Preparatory Division
• overseeing the Preparatory's utilization of the Computer Lab and its music teaching software, all ages
• teaching computer-based Finale, ETDrill, MacGamut, Practica Musica, Noteplay; and teaching workbook-based Royal Schools, Trinity, and self-designed curriculum
• concurrently playing for ballet, modern dance, choreography, and guest artist classes and residencies (scheduled hours varying semester to semester)
• playing for the summer programs and preparatory afterschool programs at Towson, Goucher, and Carver Center for Arts and Technology
• composing for and performing with faculty and student choreography and for professional companies Surge Dance Company, The Moving Company, and T.E.D. (Towson Ensemble Dancers)
• composing concert works such as the art song Between These Words, performed by sopranos in five different venues including Baltimore Composers Coalition's inaugural concert
• with concurrent scholarly activities including
• presenting a lecture at the American Musicological Society Regional at Goucher College, 1999
• publishing four articles in the Greenwood Press's Women and Music in America Since 1900: An Encyclopedia.

1999: Goucher College, Towson, MD: Guest Faculty

• teaching DA230 Music for Dance

1990-1996: Baltimore Actors Theatre Conservatory, Towson, MD: Music Theory and History Instructor

• teaching Music Theory and Music History, grades 4-12
• preparing upper grades for AP Theory test

1991-1992: The Park School, Brooklandville, MD: Upper School Music Instructor

• teaching Senior Seminar in Music
• leading Upper School performance groups including Madrigal Group and Chorus

1988-1990: St. James Academy, Monkton, MD: Music Director

• teaching K-6 general classroom music and drama
• producing and directing original full-length musicals composed in collaboration with the Grade 6 students

Prior to 1988: constant involvement in creating, performing, and teaching music

• long-running affiliations with the Dance Departments of Goucher College and University of Arkansas Fayetteville
• composing and performing ongoing lecture/demonstrations that traveled to public schools from both Goucher and UA Fayetteville
• running a volunteer music program for a special education school (Boston Mountains Educational Cooperative, Greenland, AR)
• teaching music at Baltimore Experimental High School
• teaching music and/or dance at summer programs including Maryland Summer Center for the Arts at Goucher College and Appel Farm Arts Center in New Jersey
• teaching modern dance classes and choreographing numerous dance works in Arkansas, New Jersey, and Maryland
• performing as a singer/songwriter and with a succession of bands

Performing Arts Collective

1984-1988: Performing Arts Collective, Fayetteville, AR: Founder/Director

• handling all planning and day-to-day operations of a grassroots arts organization
• presenting numerous concert performances, classes, and workshops to packed houses in an underserved community

Freelance Composing for Professional Choreography and for Theatre

Companies composed for include:

• Ken Skrsez's Surge Dance Company (MD, with performances in NYC and Eurpoe)
• Nancy Wanich-Romita's The Moving Company (MD)
• T.E.D. (Towson Ensemble Dancers, resident company at Towson University, MD)
• Performing Arts Collective (AR)
• Paulette Brockington's DanceDetroit (MI, with performances in Asia)
• two theatrical productions directed by Brad Mayes (Romeo and Juliet and Joan, The Globe Theatre, LA)

Sample Reviews

• electronic score "Desert Night" composed for Dana Martin's choreography, reviewed as
  • "...a wonderfully atmospheric paean to open spaces. Ms. Martin focused her vision alongside that of composer Kathleen Pierson. The result was fresh and appealing."
  
  
• music for live theatre production Joan at The Globe Theatre in Los Angeles, reviewed as
  • "notable" (L.A. Reader)
  • "a definite asset throughout" (Drama-Logue)
  • "Kathleen Pierson's understated score enriches the action" (L.A. Weekly)
  
  
• score for Ken Skresz's "Village" for Surge Dance Company
  • performed by Surge at the Cunningham Studio in NYC and elsewhere on the east coast
  • performed at Quinzena da Danca de Almada in Portugal
  • winning the highest award given for Choreography by the Maryland Arts Council 1999

A lifetime of composing, performing, and teaching music.

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