User:WiJaMa/sandbox/Tom Brier

""Tom Brier"" (born October 3, 1971 in Oakdale, California) is an American Ragtime pianist and composer.

Early life

Tom Brier was born in Oakdale, California, in the Great Central Valley farming community south of Sacramento in October 1971. Brier was four years old when his parents bought him a piano. At the age of five, Brier began teaching under the guidance of a local teacher.

After high school, Brier studied computer science at California State University, Stanislaus in Turlock, graduating with a bachelor's degree in Computer Science in 1993. Since then he has worked in Sacramento as a programmer and designer for the county. In addition to his work, he has composed piano pieces and played at many music events.

Musical career

In 1985, Brier aroused the interest of Larry Applegate, president of the Sacramento Ragtime Association. Brier was invited to association meetings and was able to perform at them. Brier’s interpretations of Ragtime music classics, described as aggressive, attracted public attention. In particular, he received recognition for his in-depth knowledge of the various genres of early ragtime music.

Brier has performed primarily at music events dedicated to ragtime music on the west coast of the United States. He first performed at the West Coast Ragtime Festival in 1989. He has since given concerts in Sedalia, Columbia (Missouri), Phoenix, and Indianapolis, among others.

Brier composed his first ragtime piece, "Pine Cone Rag," at the age of 11 in 1982. By 2006 he had composed more than 150 pieces. Since then, production has already exceeded 200 compositions with approximately 100 of them being in the ragtime genre. Brier’s production covers a wide range of different subgenres of ragtime music and closely related music styles (including classical ragtime, stride piano, fox trot and novelty piano). He has also collaborated with many other ragtime composers (including Eric Marchese, Neil Blaze, Gil Lieberknecht and Kathi Backus).

Accident

According to relatives, Brier was involved in a car accident on August 6, 2016, in which a truck coming from behind smashed his car and pushed him against the car in front of him. Brier was in a coma for a while, but Brier's relatives later reported that he was reacting to music and stimuli he heard.

Recordings

Tom Brier has released eight albums, one with Nan Bostick.

• Rising Star (1994)
• Generic (1997)
• Pianola (2000)
• Dualing at the McCoys (2002) – piano duet with Nan Bostick
• Skeletons (2003)
• Rewind (2006)
• Blue Sahara (2009)
• Constellations (2012)