Alarm Will Sound
Alarm Will Sound is a 20-member band committed to innovative performances and recordings
of today's music. It has established a reputation for performing demanding music with
energetic skill. The versatility of Alarm Will Sound allows it to take on music from a wide
variety of styles. Its repertoire ranges from European to American works, from the
arch-modernist to the pop-influenced. Since its inception, Alarm Will Sound has been
associated with composers at the forefront of contemporary music. Through its work as the
resident ensemble at the Mizzou International Composers Festival, the ensemble also
champions the work of the next generation of composers. The group itself includes many
composer-performers, allowing for an unusual degree of insight into the creation and
performance of new work.
Alarm Will Sound may be heard on six recordings. Canzonas Americanas-its latest
release on Cantaloupe Music-features music by Derek Bermel, whose eclectic approach draws
on the musical traditions of Europe, North and South America, and Africa. The
genre-bending, critically acclaimed recording Acoustica features
live-performance arrangements of music by electronica guru Aphex Twin. This unique project
taps the diverse talents within the group, from the many composers who made arrangements of
the original tracks to the experimental approaches developed by the performers.
Members of the ensemble began playing together while studying at the Eastman School of
Music in Rochester, New York. With diverse experience in composition, improvisation, jazz
and popular styles, early music, and world music, they bring intelligence and a sense of
adventure to all their performances.
Visit alarmwillsound.com for more information.
Alan Pierson
Alan Pierson is the artistic director of Alarm Will Sound, artistic director of the
Brooklyn Philharmonic, and principal conductor of the Dublin-based Crash Ensemble. He has
also appeared as a guest conductor with the London Sinfonietta, Steve Reich Ensemble,
Orchestra of St. Luke's, Ensemble ACJW, Tanglewood Music Center Orchestra, New World
Symphony, and the Silk Road Project. In addition, he has served as a visiting faculty
conductor at the Indiana University Jacobs School of Music. Mr. Pierson has collaborated
with major composers and performers, including Yo-Yo Ma, Steve Reich, Dawn Upshaw, Osvaldo
Golijov, John Adams, Augusta Read Thomas, David Lang, Michael Gordon, La Monte Young, and
choreographers Christopher Wheeldon, Akram Khan, and Eliot Feld. Mr. Pierson has recorded
for Nonesuch Records, Cantaloupe Music, Sony Classical, and Sweetspot DVD.