Now at Copland House

Closing out the summer here at Copland House is 2017 CULTIVATE Fellow Pierce Gradone. Pierce’s music echoes the strange brew of musical cultures that made up his childhood; from playing bluegrass in the hills of Appalachia to sprinting the marathon of blinding-fast Pentecostal shout music. His works explore the notion of music as an embodied art, emphasizing the somatic aesthetic experience by engaging with performative agency and virtuosity. Pierce’s music has been performed by Eighth Blackbird, Ensemble Signal, Imani Winds, the Chicago Civic Orchestra, Pacifica Quartet, the Quince, Riot, Switch Ensembles, and the Music from Copland House Ensemble. He has had commissions and awards from the From Music Foundation at Harvard University, American Modern Ensemble, Ensemble Dal Niente, Luna Nova, and Line Upon Line Percussion, among many others. He is currently an Assistant Professor of Music at Knox College.