Grammy nominated pianist Joshua Pierce has performed in prestigious music centers throughout the world as a soloist and with an extraordinary array of orchestras including The Royal Philharmonic, Symphony Orchestra of Russia, Moscow State Philharmonic, Berlin Radio Symphony Orchestra, and the Czech Radio Symphony Orchestra. He has recorded more than 200 works including numerous world premieres as a soloist and with orchestra for EMI Classics, Carlton Classics, Helicon, Koch International Classics, MMC, MSR Classics, Pro Arts, Sony Classics, Vox and other labels. His landmark series of recordings of John Cage's music on the Wergo label has earned him tremendous acclaim worldwide. His 30-year collaboration with the pianist Dorothy Jonas, as part of the two-piano team, Pierce & Jonas, has resulted in numerous acclaimed recordings and performances, including a command performance with the The Philharmonia for England's Royal Family. Highly regarded as a chamber music collaborator, Mr. Pierce studied with the cellists Bernard Greenhouse of the Beaux Arts Trio and Jascha Silberstein, formerly of the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra as well as with the pianists Artur Balsam and Joseph Zeiger. He has performed with Russia's Leontovich String Quartet, the Pierce-Aomori Clarinet & Piano Duo, Chamber Players International and with violinist Julianne Klopotic and Misha Vitenson, cellist Jeffrey Solow and Lawrence Zoernig. Mr. Pierce has been a judge for many piano competitions and has served on the Board of the International Fulbright Foundation. He is a winner of the German Music Critics Prize, Fono Forum award, Diapason Award, Grand Prize of the IBLA International Competition for Contemporary Music and a nominee for the 23rd International Franz Liszt Grand Prix du Disque Prize of Hungary. In 2012, Mr. Pierce received four PSC-CUNY Research Award Grants as well as a major award from the Aaron Copland Fund For Music, Inc. He has performed at most of the major concert venues and series in New York City, including Alice Tully Hall, Symphony Space, Steinway Hall, Carnegie Hall, Merkin Hall, Bruno Walter Auditorium at Lincoln Center, Roulette, The Kitchen, The Knitting Factory, Spectrum, The Dimenna Center and Weill Recital Hall. He has performed at the Music Mountain Chamber Music Festival, CT as well as at the Phillips Collection, Washington DC.

Read his complete bio.

See Joshua on YouTube at https://www.youtube.com/user/JReinhard#p/u/4/mVxaq7W2b3s

Lawrence Zoernig has been principal cellist of many New York symphony and chamber orchestras, including New York Chamber Orchestra, Manhattan Chamber Orchestra, Bachanalia and Opera Manhattan. As a chamber musician, he performs frequently with the Goliard Ensemble and Bachanalia. He has appeared as soloist and chamber musician at Carnegie Hall, Alice Tully Hall, Bruno Walter Auditorium at Lincoln Center, Steinway Hall in New York and the Phillips Collection and the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C. Mr. Zoernig received a Bachelor of Music degree from the Cleveland Institute of Music where he studied with Alan Harris, and a Master of Music degree from the Juilliard School where he studied with Harvey Shapiro. He plays a Stradivarious model cello made by Tim Hulley of Ottawa, Ontario, completed in 2004.

More about him at http://www.vistalirica.com/bios.php?id=27.

See him performing on YouTube at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QOEGBHCAbEc.

"...Haunting melodies mixed with explosive exuberance make for a musical journey the ears and heart remember. Klopotic/Pierce/Zoernig bring to Schubert's Bb and Eb Piano Trios their own eclectic musical backgrounds, drawing the listener into both a dignified and internal experience of these two monumental works."
                                                                                        Chamber Musician TODAY, April 6, 2013

Light and Sound Presents

The Klopotic-Pierce-Zoering Trio

Julianne Klopotic, violin; Joshua Pierce, piano; Lawrence Zoering, cello

The Old Stone House; Brooklyn, New York

Performance date: April 05, 2013

Founded by violinist Julianne Klopotic, Light and Sound bills itself as a “full-spectrum music performance series.” From the experimental to the classic, with jazz/rock and world music in between, Light and Sound is  in residence at the Old Stone House in Brooklyn for the 2013 season. The Old Stone House is a very intimate venue.  The feeling is very much like the 19th century salon, with seating for a small audience in immediate proximity to the performers.  The acoustics are remarkably good for a stone building constructed in the 17th century.  The small but enthusiastic audience was treated to a performance of Franz Schubert’s Piano Trios by the Klopotic-Pierce-Zoering Trio.

These three performers each have extensive and impressive resumes as soloists.  What always remains to be seen is the end result of joining such strong personalities as an ensemble. Sometimes it does occur that the whole is less than the sum of the parts, but I am pleased that this was not the case for this trio.

The first half was the Piano Trio No. 1 in B-flat Major, Op. 99 (D. 898). This work was started in 1827 and finished in 1828, the last year of Schubert’s life.  From the opening notes of the Allegro Moderato, the trio took an assertive and confident direction with its strong, full-bodied sound. For a small venue, this was especially bold, declarative playing, led ably by the energetic pianist Pierce. It was highly satisfying. Klopotic has a very rich, singing tone that captured the optimistic essence of this movement.  Zoering’s solo in the Andante poco mosso was played with artistry.  There were some rough edges at the end of this movement, but it did not spoil the overall effect. The Rondo finale was played with gusto to the last.

The performers are to be commended on their level of concentration considering the less-than-exemplary behavior on the part of some listeners. Several of the audience members were recording the performance with their mobile phones held in the air facing the performers, while one very enthusiastic listener “conducted” by waving her arms a la Leonard Bernstein throughout the entire work, at a distance of maybe three or four feet from Klopotic.  Perhaps one should be grateful for the fact that she actually kept an accurate beat!

The second half was dedicated to the nearly hour long Piano Trio No. 2 in E-flat major, Op. 100 (D. 929). This work, completed in November 1827, was one of the few late works that Schubert actually heard played in his lifetime.  The second movement theme is well known for its prominent use in the movie Barry Lyndon; so much so that the association is as strong as the use of Mozart’s Andante movement of K. 467 is to the movie Elvira Madigan. The thematic material in this trio is extensively developed and requires tremendous attention to detail. The trio mostly met the challenge, continuing their bold approach in the opening Allegro. It was extroverted playing from completely involved players. The sublime Andante con moto was met with nodding heads and smiles from the audience, who no doubt felt the pleasure in recognition of the theme. The Scherzando was played with care but also some small issues of ensemble - fleeting in the grand scheme of things. The Allegro Moderato finale proved the players indefatigable, with a tremendous drive that built in intensity, to the delight of the same audience members so moved by the finale of the B-flat trio. After the final E-flat chord sounded, there was a moment of silence, after which the bemused Pierce called out, “That’s it!” The audience responded with a loud, prolonged standing ovation that surely was gratifying to the trio. It was a fitting end to an excellent concert. They encored this program on April 6, 2013 at the same venue.

The Klopotic-Pierce-Zoering trio is a fine ensemble.  I do hope to have the opportunity to hear them again in the future.

                                                                      New York Concert Review, Jeffrey Williams; April 14, 2013