Alex Wier is a percussion artist and music educator with a diverse background in performance and teaching. A strong advocate for new music, he has commissioned many new percussion works and performed regularly with contemporary music ensembles, including Present Music, Fifth House Ensemble, Romex Duo, Atlas Percussion, Cross//Hatch, Beyond This Point, Crossing 32nd Street, and the Arizona Contemporary Music Ensemble. Alex has also presented solo recitals and clinics at numerous universities across the United States and performed with professional orchestras, including the Milwaukee Symphony, Phoenix Symphony, Arizona Opera, Tucson Symphony, and Milwaukee Ballet Orchestra.
Alex is the Assistant Professor of Percussion and Percussion Area Head at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. At UWM he teaches applied percussion lessons, percussion methods, percussion history and literature, and is the Director of the Percussion Ensemble, Steel PANthers Steel Band, and Marimba Band. Outside of school instruction, Alex has interacted with diverse student populations as a clinician, adjudicator, and active member of ensembles that have focused on community outreach. He has also served on the Keyboard Committee, Technology Committee, and the Diversity Alliance of the Percussive Arts Society in addition to serving as the President of the Arizona PAS Chapter from 2012 to 2013.
Alex has performed and presented his research at a variety of conferences, including the Percussive Arts Society International Convention, National Conference on Percussion Pedagogy, The Midwest Clinic, and the College Music Society National Conference. He has articles published in Percussive Notes and Rhythm! Scene, both publications of the Percussive Arts Society, as well as recordings released on New World, Cantaloupe Music, KAIROS, New Amsterdam, Summit, and Albany record labels. He has also been the recipient of many grants and scholarships that supported his creative projects and travel for fieldwork and presentations, including the UWM Advancing Research and Creativity Grant, ASU JumpStart Research Grant, Henderson Endowment Fund, Shandel Education Plus Grant, and the PAS Armand Zildjian Scholarship.
As a composer and arranger, Alex has written percussion solo and ensemble works for a variety of percussion instruments. His original composition for steel pan ensemble, Intown, won third prize in the James P. and Shirley J. O’Brien Endowment Composition Competition in 2014. His most recent work is centered on the utilization of live electronics with percussion instruments.
Alex earned a Doctor of Musical Arts degree from Arizona State University and his culminating project was titled “Performer and Electronic-Activated Acoustics: Three New Works for Solo Percussion and Live Electronics.” Alex also holds a Master of Music degree from Northwestern University and a Bachelor’s degree in Music Performance from the University of Arizona. Alex is an endorser of Marimba One marimbas, Innovative Percussion sticks and mallets, and Sabian cymbals in addition to being a member of the Black Swamp Percussion Educator Network.
