Pierre, a French native, came to music as a child, studying classical piano and transcribing themes from movie composers. Pursuing a life long interest of music and design, he studied architecture at « L'Ecole des Beaux-Arts » in Paris, before graduating at the Berklee College of Music in Boston.
After moving to Los Angeles, he won a number of national and international music competitions for choral works and orchestras, including the American Composers Forum 2005 Art Song Competition, with a premiere performance by Isabel Bayrakdarian during the Schubert Club's Summer Festival.
His compositions have been performed in Los Angeles, with KUSC live broadcasts from the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, in San Francisco Herbst theater, Saint Paul Minnesota, Paris France, Dublin’s National Concert Hall of Ireland, and New York City Carnegie’s Weill Recital Hall.
New York City Carnegie’s Hall
— February 6, 2023
Emotions are in the center of his work, and reviewers have often noted cinematic elements in his music, while describing “an imaginative musical craftsman at work, capable of evoking real wonder, mystery, reverence, and celebration”.
“To performers and listeners, Pierre’s work are challenging, engaging and combine sophisticated compositional structures with relevant contemporary elements. Schroeder’s works maintain the intellectual and tonal traditions of European music while exploring a modern sensibility of rhythm and color, creating atmosphere, nuance and abstraction out of finely crafted orchestrations”.
Pierre also composed electronic and orchestral scores for short movies and animated films, as well as documentaries. “America the Bountiful”, a six part series aired on PBS and the History Channel, earned him a Telly Award for outstanding documentary.
Morning Veil - Piano Solo
Glimmer score
His CD recordings “Pagan Mass” and “Atlantis” were released by Centaur Records, while “The Four Seasons” and “Voyage” were released by Parma Recordings, on Ravello and Navona Records respectively. Pierre’s music also appears in two compilation albums, Moto Eterno featuring Trio Casals, and Tomorrow’s Air written for orchestra and large ensembles.
These albums have aired nationwide in the US, and in Western Europe.
©2021 Pierre Schroeder