Dave Pierce Interview
Hailing from Drayton Valley, Alberta, Dave Pierce is an Emmy award-winning Canadian composer, arranger, and music director. As a teenager, Pierce first experienced the impact music has on a large group of people when the Winter Olympics came to Calgary in 1988. While watching the closing ceremonies live from the sidelines, Pierce decided that the next time the Olympics came to Canada, he wanted to be the one to make the music. After graduating from Berklee College of Music in 1992, Pierce returned home and began writing music for the Calgary Stampede’s evening Grandstand Show, where he would eventually become the show’s longtime music director. Known for his fresh approach to orchestral writing, Pierce has composed and arranged music for an extensive range of productions: from musical theater and commercial recordings, to live mega spectacles and sporting events. In 2010, his Olympic dream came true when he was asked to compose and direct the music for the Vancouver Olympic Winter Games. Pierce oversaw every aspect of preparation and arranged nearly 500 hours of music for the event, which was seen by an estimated three billion viewers around the world.
Career Highlights
Pierce arranged and orchestrated music for Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Concert Tour and Jesus Christ Superstar Gospel. He has also worked as music director for the Radio City Music Hall Christmas Spectacular in New York City, NBC’s Macy’s Parade, the American Country Music Awards (ACMA), and the 2009 Gemini Awards.
He has written orchestral arrangements for a multitude of artists including Bryan Adams, Carrie Underwood, Michael Bublé, Nelly Furtado, Jann Arden, Tommy Tune, Sarah McLachlan, k.d. lang, Alanis Morissette, and Petula Clark.
In 2005, Pierce was commissioned to compose a new work for Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II, featuring a symphony orchestra and one-thousand voice choir.
Pierce arranged and orchestrated the music for Twyla Tharp’s Frank Sinatra musical, Come Fly Away, which opened on Broadway in New York City in 2010, as well as the follow-up Sinatra Dance With Me in Las Vegas, and Sinatra: A Man and His Music at the Palladium in London, England. In 2015, he arranged and adapted music for Sinatra 100, a GRAMMY television special celebrating 100 years of Frank Sinatra.
He produced the albums Sounds of Vancouver 2010: Opening Ceremony Commemorative Album, and Sounds of Vancouver 2010: Closing Ceremony Commemorative Album.
In 2010, Pierce won an Emmy Award for “Outstanding Music Direction” for his work on the Vancouver Olympic Winter Games.
His sound has been described by Film Score Monthly as “John Williams meets Jerry Goldsmith”, and is often referred to as “Canada’s next David Foster”.
Source: http://davepiercemusic.com/?page_id=2