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John Pierce completed a Bachelor and Master of Music at the University of Illinois, studying with William Warfield, Grace Wilson and John Wustman. He continued with Doctoral studies at Indiana University under Dale Moore and Jean Deis, performing several leading operatic baritone roles. After a Santa Fe Apprenticeship in 1985, Pierce moved to North Carolina, started a family and began a career as a voice teacher, teaching at UNC Wilmington and the NC School of the Arts. During that time he made the switch to Heldentenor. The first fruit of this change was winning the Wagner Prize at the Liederkranz Competition in New York in 1990. Pierce then accepted an engagement at the Brandenburg State Theater in Cottbus, Germany, where he successfully appeared in parts such as Hoffmann in Les contes d`Hoffmann, Erik in Der fliegende Hollaender, Lohengrin, Tannhaueser, Don Jose in Bizet's Carmen, Otello, as Max in Weber's Freischuetz, and also the title role in Britten`s opera, Peter Grimes. Pierce was a recipient of Cottbus' prestigious Max Gruenebaum Award. In 2002 he left Cottbus to become a freelance singer.
One of his greatest successes is his portrayal of Wagner's Tristan, which he debuted in the German opera house of Dortmund in 2000, with Jayne Casselman as Isolde. In 2001 and 2 he was Tristan in Innsbruck, Austria. In August 2003 he appeared as Tristan in Rio de Janeiro. In Chemnitz in 2004 he appeared as Tristan with Evelyn Herlitzius as Isolde in a new production by Michael Heinicke, with Niksa Bareza conducting. In March 2005 he sang a celebrated Tristan at the Staatstheater in Stuttgart. In 2007 he was heard as Tristan in Chemnitz again, and then sang acclaimed performances under Valery Gergiev in Rotterdam of the Tristan Project. The Isolde was Irene Theorin. His Tristan at the Koblenz Theater opened in 2007 with Barbara Schneider-Hofstetter as the Isolde.
In January 2005 in Innsbruck, he gave his celebrated debut as Peter Grimes. Autumn 2005 he sang the title role in the so-called Wonder of Minden; a new production of Tannhaueser staged by Keith Warner. In Chemnitz in 2006 he opened a new production of Lohengrin, which he reprised in 2007.
He was Tannhaueser at the State Opera Hannover in January 2007. Later that year he debuted as Tannhaueser in Frankfurt am Main. He has also sung Tannhaueser 3 seasons at the original setting of the opera, the Wartburg fortress in Eisenach. In September 2007 he opened a production of Carmen in Koblenz, singing Don Jose. In early 2008 he sang the Lohengrin in the first production of that opera in Moscow since 1937. He is was Florestan in Beethoven's Fidelio in Rio de Janeiro in May of 2008. Upcoming engagements include Siegmund in Die Walkuere in Cottbus and Koblenz, Ariadne and Otello, also in Koblenz. He will also reprise his Tristan in Chemnitz in February of 2009.
John Charles Pierce is also a sought after concert soloist. Time and again he can be heard in the oratorios of Haendel, Gounod and Dvorak, the Verdi Requiem and also in Beethoven's 9th Symphony. He was a featured soloist in the Philharmonic Hall in Berlin. His collaboration with pianist John Wustman, has resulted in song recitals in Europe, among them Schubert`s Winterreise in Bayreuth. As an honorary member of the International Hans von Buelow Society, he regularly performs the works of this great musician.
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