Dr. Carrie Pierce joined the faculty of Texas A & M – Corpus Christi in the Fall of 2011 as assistant professor of cello and chamber music. She holds a Doctor of Musical Arts from the University of Michigan, and two degrees from Michigan State University; a Master of Music in Cello Performance and a Bachelor of Music in Music Education. In addition she studied performance at the Meadowmount Music Festival (USA) & the Deia International Music Festival (Bonefro, IT).
Active as an orchestral musician, Dr. Pierce holds positions with the Corpus Christi Symphony and the Victoria Symphony. Prior to these appointments she was principal cellist with the Lansing Symphony Orchestra.
Highly active as a chamber musician, Carrie was a member of Trio La Vita, a piano trio that won numerous prizes such as the Rutenburg Chamber Competition and the Plowman Chamber Competition. She is a founding member of Drumpetello, an innovative new trio featuring cello, trumpet, and percussion. Drumpetello has performed at the Lochabar Arts Festival in Scotland in November 2015 performing newly commissioned works for the ensemble.
As a commercial musician, Dr. Pierce has performed for numerous pop and solo artists, such as Kanye West and the Trans-Siberian Orchestra.
As a chamber musician, Carrie was a member of Trio La Vita, a piano trio that won numerous prizes such as the Rutenburg Chamber Competition and the Plowman Chamber Competition. She is a founding member of Drumpetello, an innovative new trio featuring cello, trumpet, and percussion. Drumpetello has performed at the Lochabar Arts Festival in Scotland in November 2015 performing newly commissioned works for the ensemble. As a commercial musician, Dr. Pierce has performed for numerous pop and solo artists, such as Kanye West and the Trans-Siberian Orchestra.
Brian Thornton is a musician of many interests. As cellist and conductor, he has performed in hundreds of venues across the world, from The White House in Washington, D.C., to the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, China. He has performed as soloist with over 30 orchestras, and conducts his own ensemble located in Solon, Ohio. Having a special interest in modern music has led him to premier works of little known to well-known composers such as Donald Erb and John Adams. Brian has taken part in premiering over 100 new works of music, either as a soloist or in chamber ensembles. Brian especially enjoys taking part in concerts that benefit special causes, such as the Muscular Dystrophy Society, and took part in concerts in Cleveland for the Red Cross for earthquake and tsunami relief in Japan. As a teacher, Brian has given master classes from California to Germany, and enjoys passing on the knowledge given to him by his teachers, Lev Aronson, Lynn Harrell, John Sharp and Steven Geber. Brian has been a Yamaha Artist since 2010, and makes frequent trips to Japan to teach and play outreach concerts there. He spends his days enjoying time with his wife Jennifer Woda, a mezzo-soprano, and his daughters, Maya and Madelyn. Evenings are spent performing with the world-renowned Cleveland Orchestra, where he has been in the cello section for 17 years.
Amir Eldan performs as a soloist, chamber musician and as guest principal cellist. In 2011-12, he served as Principal Cellist of the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra by invitation from Zubin Mehta and last year, he served as guest Principal Cellist with the Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra. He was the youngest member of the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra in New York, when he won the position of Associate Principal Cellist at the age of twenty-two.