Clarinetist Thomas Piercy Brings TOKYO TO NEW YORK Today

NYC and Tokyo-based clarinetist, Thomas Piercy performs two concerts of new music by contemporary Japanese composers based on their thoughts about NYC and works by non-Japanese composers influenced or inspired by Japan. The concerts will be visually backed by projections of photos of New York City by photographer Christina Boers and photos of Tokyo by Thomas Piercy. Many of the pieces have been composed for and premiered by Mr. Piercy. Several of the pieces include the combination of Western classical instruments with traditional Japanese instruments (shakuhachi and hichiriki).

Thomas Piercy, clarinet and hichiriki, photographer
Mika Tanaka, piano
ElizaBeth Brown, shakuhachi
Christina Boers, photographer

Clarinetist, hichiriki player and composer Thomas Piercy performs "Tokyo to New York" - two concerts of new music by contemporary Japanese composers based on their thoughts about New York City and works by non-Japanese composers inspired by Japan. Highlights of the concerts include two world premiers and 12 United States premiers by Japanese composers. The concerts will be enhanced by projections of photography of New York City by photographer Christina Boers as well as photos of Tokyo by Thomas Piercy.

The "Tokyo to New York" programs include over 25 works composed or arranged for and premiered by Piercy, including several works combining Western classical instruments with traditional Japanese instruments. Mr. Piercy is joined in these concerts by Japanese composer/pianist Mika Tanaka and renowned Shakuhachi player ElizaBeth Brown.

All of the compositions, except for the Nagao, Tanaka and Shimoyama, were composed for Thomas Piercy. The Nagao and Shimoyama compositions were arranged by the composers for Thomas Piercy.

The concerts include a wide variety of styles of music, from Japanese avant-garde to contemporary classical, minimalism, J-pop and jazz-influenced pieces. Highlights include works by of one of Japan's leading avant-garde Japanese composers, Hifumi Shimoyama, as well as pieces by two winners of the prestigious Toro Takamitus Prize, Yuichi Matsumoto and Jun Nagao. Mr. Piercy, since 2005, lives in both NYC and Tokyo, and has had the opportunity to work with all of these Japanese composers on these exciting and varied compositions.

The concerts include three world premieres by Japanese composers Mika Tanaka, Masatora Goya and Kento Iwasaki, and twelve US premieres by Japanese composers Yoshihiko Banno, Ippei Inoue, Mieko Ishii, Kazushi Iwaoka, Yohei Kurihara, Yuichi Matsumoto, Jun Nagao, Katsuhiro Oguri, Hifumi Shimoyama, Akira Uchida, Tomoko Uzawa, Kyoko Yamaguchi . American composers on the concerts include Thomas Piercy, Armando Ayala, Greg Bartholomew, John Bilotta, Andy Cohen, Douglas DaSilva, Andrew Davis, Jim Fox, Michael Frazier, Nana Siniakova, Daniel J. Thompson, and David Wolfson.

Following a 2011 call for scores from non-Japanese composers influenced or inspired by Japan ("Nihon no shiten" - "Japanese perspective"), Thomas Piercy selected a diverse program from established and emerging composers and premiered these pieces in New York City in 2012. Mr. Piercy followed this concert with a 2012 call for scores from contemporary Japanese composers to write pieces based on their thoughts about NYC. The selected compositions were premiered in Tokyo in January, 2013.

Mr. Piercy is excited to bring together these compositions and present them in two concerts in NYC.

The concerts will take place:

Today, May 18, 3 pm at the Queens New Music Festival at The Secret Theatre, 44-02 23rd Street, Long Island City, NY. Tickets: $20. http://www.queensnewmusicfestival.org

Sunday, June 2, 3pm at Spectrum, 121 Ludlow Street, NY, NY 10002. Tickets: $15. tonadaproductions@gmail.com. Call 212-974-0663.

Thomas Piercy: Tokyo to New York

PROGRAM:

Mienai Sakebigoe Thomas Piercy

*In the Park Mika Tanaka

Sakana Armando Ayala

Ukiyo-e Greg Bartholomew

KOMORIUTA John Bilotta

Haiku Andy Cohen

Tulipao Douglas DaSilva

Suibokuga Andrew Davis

...as it leaves the bell Jim Fox

Recurrence Michael Frazier

Sensu Nina Siniakova

summoning a skeleton specter Daniel J. Thompson

Calligraphy Circle David Wolfson

** Old Men Waltz Yoshihiko Banno

*Toro Nagashi Masatora Goya

**Nostalgia Ippei Inoue

** You Mieko Ishii

** Sketch from Japan Kazushi Iwaoka

**Autumn Festival Kento Iwasaki

**YUU Yohei Kurihara

**You've Got Mail Yuichi Matsumoto

Your Kindness Jun Nagao

**Movement 2012 Katsuhiro Oguri

**Amalgam - A Hifumi Shimoyama

** New Moon Akira Uchida

**Tears of fallen angel Tomoko Uzawa

** Space Kyoko Yamaguchi

* World Premier **U.S. Premier

Thomas Piercy is a critically acclaimed musician with orchestral, concerto, solo recital and chamber music appearances throughout the Americas, Europe and Asia. His performances have been described by critics as "passionate," "pulling out all the stops," and "the best Piazzolla in NYC," and by the New York Times as "brilliant," "playing with refinement and flair" and "evoking a panache in the contemporary works." Mr. Piercy performs varied concerts of standard classical music, jazz-inspired programs, contemporary works, pieces written specifically for him and his own original arrangements, compositions and collaborations.

He studied at the Juilliard School and Mannes College of Music in NYC in addition to Shenandoah Conservatory and Virginia Commonwealth University. He studied extensively with the English clarinetist Gervase De Peyer; additional studies were with Stephen Johnston, Kalmen Opperman and Leon Russianoff. He has studied the traditional Japanese instruments hichiriki and shakuhachi in Tokyo.

Mr. Piercy has performed at many of the world's acclaimed concert halls including Carnegie Hall (NY, NY), Lincoln Center (NY, NY), the Kennedy Center (Washington, DC.), Centre Pompidou (Paris, France), Wigmore Hall (London, England), Accademia di Santa Cecilia (Rome, Italy) and Parthenon (Tokyo, Japan). A frequent performer of new music, Piercy has premiered numerous compositions, many of them written for him. Pulitzer Prize winner and Grammy Award-winning composer Ned Rorem wrote his only clarinet and piano piece, "Four Colors," for Mr. Piercy; the work had its premiere at a concert celebration for Mr. Rorem at Carnegie Hall. Mr. Piercy has recorded many of Rorem's chamber works featuring the clarinet.

A versatile artist defying categorization - the clarinetist on the Emmy Award-winning Juno Baby CD and DVDs; performing Mozart with mezzo-soprano Frederica von Stade; playing Broadway songs with Raoul Julia; working with the composer Leonard Bernstein; appearing in a KRS-ONE rap music video; performing concert improvisations with pianist DonAl Fox; recording with members of Maroon 5 - as an instrumentalist, singer, director/music director/conductor and actor, he has performed and recorded for Broadway and Off-Broadway, commercial recordings, television, radio, videos, and movie soundtracks. More info at www.ThomasPiercy.com.