Alan Geier

SOLOIST, VOCAL COACH AND ACCOMPANIST FOR PASADENA PRO MUSICA.

CAREER

• Taught Music Full-Time for 38 years at Polytechnic School, Pasadena, CA (retired 2017)
• Faculty Associate at Humboldt State University/ Director of HSU Chamber Music Workshop for 18 years
• Staff Accompanist at Occidental College
• Singer/Accompanist with the Donald Brinegar Singers
• Accompanist and Singer for Pasadena Pro Musica

BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH

Alan Geier graduated in 1975 from Pomona College, where he studied piano with John Steele Ritter, played chamber music with Giora Bernstein, accompanied the Glee Clubs and sang in the Blue & White Barbershop Quartet.

He received his Master’s Degree in Human Development from Pacific Oaks College in 1978, and for 38 years worked as a full-time music teacher for Middle and Upper School students at Polytechnic School in Pasadena. The classes he taught include: Music Appreciation, Music History, Musical Theater, Chamber Music and Choral Music.

In 1986-87, as a recipient of the Dudley Wright Grant, he spent a year making music and studying German in Vienna, Austria. Among other activities there, he performed with the Wiener Jeunesse Chor under Gunter Theuring, and hosted international chamber music sessions in his apartment.

For many years Alan was the Piano Coach for the Adult Chamber Music Workshop at Humboldt State University, and for 18 years he has been Director of the Workshop.

Alan is active as a freelance pianist and singer in Southern California, including work with the Donald Brinegar Singers, Lineage Performing Arts Center, and Caltech Glee Clubs. He currently serves as Staff Accompanist at Occidental College, where he accompanies singers, choral groups, instrumentalists, and a Musical Theater class.

In 1997 Alan soloed with the Claremont Symphony Orchestra, performing Mozart’s Piano Concerto #9; with Pasadena Pro Musica he has soloed in concertos by Mozart and Shostakovich, as well as Beethoven’s Choral Fantasy. He enjoys making music with his flutist wife, Barbara (also a Pro Musica member!) and has been fortunate to work with many fine conductors and composers, including Michael Tilson Thomas, Jester Hairston, Rodney Eichenberger, Daniel Pinkham, Roger Wagner, Jeannine Wagner, Desiree La Vertu, Morten Lauridsen, Frank Ticheli, and Eric Whitacre.

MEMBERSHIPS

• American Choral Directors Association,
• Music Educators National Conference,
• Chamber Music America.