Robert Pierzak is an active composer and conductor. He has written vocal, electronic and instrumental music. He especially likes composing for large numbers of homogeneous instruments. He studied composition at Ithaca College and the Eastman School of Music where he earned his Bachelor in Music and Master of Arts respectively. His composition teachers have included Mario Davidovsky, Phillipe Manoury, Robert Morris, Chinary Ung, Dana Wilson and Gregory Woodward. He is currently in the PhD program in composition at UC San Diego.
Mr. Pierzak is interested in producing/organizing/curating concerts or artistic events. He also very much enjoys performing in any capacity.
Recently, Mr. Pierzak has been interested in the potential musical applications of phonetics, ontology, time travel, absurdity and repetition. He has spent the better part of the last couple of years finishing a cycle of five primarily vocal-based works entitled Endangered Banana, whose themes explore processes of how ideas can come to have meaning within a community.
Mr. Pierzak has been the recipient of the BMI Student Composer Award (including the Carlos Surinach Prize for being the youngest recipient that year), the Howard Hanson Large Ensemble Prize, the Smadbeck Composition Award, and the Yale College Composer's Group High School Composition Award. His music has been performed in New York City, New Haven, Aspen, San Diego, Ithaca and Rochester.