Alexandra Pierce

Born and raised in Philadelphia, her family later moved to Washington, D.C., where she studied piano with contemporary music specialist, Margaret Tolson. She received a Bachelor of Music, Phi Beta Kappa (1955), from the University of Michigan, where she majored in piano performance and medieval history; a Master of Music in piano performance from the New England Conservatory of Music (1958); a Master of Arts in music history from Harvard University (1959); and a Ph.D. in music theory and composition from Brandeis University (1968), where her teachers included composers Irving Fine and Harold Shapero. Her dissertation, written at Brandeis, is entitled The Analysis of Rhythm in Tonal Music.[5]

Pierce taught from 1968–2001 at the University of Redlands, where she was Professor of Music and Movement, and where she integrated movement research with the teaching of music theory, piano, and with her own composing. Prior to her arrival in Redlands, she taught at MIT and Antioch College.

Her book, Deepening Musical Performance through Movement: The Theory and Practice of Embodied Interpretation (Indiana University Press), was published in 2007.[3] She and Roger Pierce have co-authored two books on enhancing human movement: Expressive Movement: Posture and Action in Daily Life, Sports, and the Performing Arts (Da Capo Press, 1989)[6] and Generous Movement (Center of Balance Press, 1991).

Her music is published by Subito Music[7] (formerly by Seesaw Music), as well as by Sisra Publications,[8] Media Press,[9] and Hildegard Music.[10] Some of her scores are held in the Fleisher Collection at the Free Library of Philadelphia.[11] The tone poem Behemoth (1976) has been recorded by the Lansdowne Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Reuben Blundell.[12][13] Her Symphony No. 2, Dances on the Face of the Deep, completed in 1988 was recorded by the Koszalin State Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Szymon Kawalla on the Vienna Modern Masters label.