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Stephany Tiernan |
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BOSTON, September 13, 2002 — Berklee College of Music Provost Harry Chalmiers announced today that Stephany Tiernan has been named chair of the college's Piano Department. An accomplished educator, performer, and composer, Tiernan served as assistant chair of the Piano Department for thirteen years, until her recent promotion.
Tiernan joined the Berklee faculty in 1975. In her time at the college, she has taught counterpoint, harmony, analysis, composition, ensembles, ear training, and private piano lessons in classical, jazz, and contemporary music. She also has taught a course on the music of Charles Ives, who she cites as a profound influence on her own compositions.
Tiernan graduated from Berklee in 1974, and received a masters in composition from the New England Conservatory in 1977. She studied piano for six years with Madame Margaret Chaloff, who also taught Herbie Hancock, Kenny Werner, and Steve Kuhn. Tiernan's own piano technique encompasses the teachings of Madame Chaloff, and emphasizes breathing as a source of energy for performance and a mechanism for relaxation.
During a sabbatical to Galway in 1997, Tiernan studied Irish music, particularly sean nós singing. Her original compositions, including her most recent cd, Hauntings: Screams of Consciousness, reflect her knowledge of and great affinity for Irish music and culture. Tiernan also is a member of the executive committee of Cumann na Gaelge, Boston's Irish language organization, and has served as a music advisor and producer for archival recording projects.
"I am very excited and proud to be chosen to lead the Piano Department into the new millennium. The range of professional experience and the teaching expertise in diverse musical styles among the faculty is phenomenal," Tiernan said. "As a department, we are concerned with maintaining the highest quality piano education, blending traditional and contemporary musical training, to provide a strong foundation for careers in piano performance. We are also committed to supporting the expanding roles of pianist/keyboard players in accompanying, education, music therapy, composition, and synthesis."
Established in 1945, Berklee College of Music is the world's largest independent music college. Over 3,400 students and more than 450 faculty members interact in an environment designed to provide the most complete learning experience possible, including all of the opportunities and challenges presented by a career in the contemporary music industry. More than a college, Berklee has become the world's singular learning lab for the music of today — and tomorrow.
For more information, please contact:
Sarah Godcher Murphy
Publicist
Berklee College of Music
(617) 747-2658 or sgodcher@berklee.edu
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