Bassoonist, Educator & Arts Administrator

Amanda J. Pierce

I love to communicate ideas through informative and elevated visual content, and I enjoy working on website and email design to ensure helpful resources are accessible and appealing.

As an arts administrator, I am passionate about streamlining processes, creating sustainable organizational growth, engaging the community, and building meaningful musical experiences for musicians and audiences.

As an entrepreneur and bassoon educator, I create engaging educational online content for bassoon students, parents, and teachers. I am a passionate music educator and have worked with hundreds of bassoon students of all ages and performed as a freelance musician across Central Texas.

View my portfolio.

 

Me with my husband, Victor Pierce, who is also the artist for all of the Blue Moon Bassoon book illustrations!

Kind words from Colleagues & Clients

  • We are forever grateful for your amazing teaching for our students. You've always been so organized and the absolute best to work with. I've always appreciated your communication and quickness to respond!

  • Amanda, I just wanted to say also that you’ve done a stellar job with the Austin Symphonic Band these last several years, and that all you do and have done for the band is a next level of excellence! Thank you for all your hard work and vision and helping us go to the next level.

  • You were easily the best and most professional teacher I have ever worked with, on any instrument.

  • Our daughter says her favorite part of playing bassoon is lessons with you! You're an amazing teacher, responsive to how a student feels, honest and encouraging, structured and flexible. We wish that we could describe all the ways that you've made bassoon a great experience for her.

  • Not only did you demonstrate that you are a very fine bassoonist, but you are a human being who genuinely cares about young people - this was indeed a joy to watch and real support to our efforts during the week of camp. Your assistance made the job of maintaining the fun and hard work with our students much easier!

  • I want to thank you for doing such an outstanding job as Executive Director. You’ve really made ASB better and more viable, and during the most difficult of times. Brava!

  • You have been such a blessing to ASB since you took over in the role of Executive Director. I cannot imagine how the band will function without your hard work, vision, and skills.

Grey and black icon of apple sitting on a pile of books

Education

I began studying bassoon when I was 12 years old. I was fortunate to work with many wonderful music educators and band programs throughout my early education! In college, I studied Bassoon Performance and Arts Administration. On the side, I have studied Web Development and Graphic Design.

 

Degrees

B.M. Bassoon Performance Oberlin Conservatory

M.A. Arts Administration Florida State University

Teachers & Mentors

Daris Hale, Texas State University

Jeffrey Keesecker, Florida State University

Dr. Anne Hodges, Florida State University Arts Administration

George Sakakeeny, Oberlin Conservatory & Eastman School of Music

Carl Sawicki, Bassoon Repair Specialist

Cheryl & Dick Floyd, Kevin Jedele, & Kerry Taylor, Band Directors

Festivals & CAMPS

Oberlin in Italy

Banff Summer Music Program, Frank Morelli & Christopher Millard

Interlochen Arts Camp, Eric Stomberg, Doug Spaniol, Jeffrey Lyman

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Experience

I’ve worked in Arts Administration and Music Education for over 10 years. I started teaching in 2008 and became a full-time private lesson teacher in 2014. I quit teaching in 2021 to focus on creating online educational content for bassoon students, parents, and teachers. I joined the staff at the Texas Music Educators Association in 2023 to amplify music education excellence and advocacy through digital media.

 

Digital Marketing & Communications

Blue Moon Bassoon · Texas Music Educators Association

Education

CityMusic Cleveland Education and Outreach Intern · Private Music Teacher · Bocal Majority Bassoon Camp, Instructor, · Longhorn Music Camp, Bassoon Instructor

Administration

Cleveland Orchestra, Special Events & Development Intern · Bravo Vail Valley Music Festival, Development Intern · Long Center for the Performing Arts, Development Associate · Austin Symphonic Band, Executive Director

Performance

Austin Opera · Austin Symphony Orchestra · Go Organic Orchestra · Southwestern University · Sinfonia Gulf Coast · Tallahassee Symphony Orchestra · Texas State Faculty Orchestra

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By the Numbers

I’ve written three books for bassoon, the Blue Moon Bassoon Songbook for Beginning and Intermediate Bassoonists, #BassoonGoals: Scales & Arpeggios, and #BassoonGoals: Getting Started Workbook for Bassoonists.

 

As a Teacher

  • Taught 173 bassoon students ages 11-19.

  • Worked with 15 Schools across 4 School Districts in Austin, Texas.

  • Instructed 3,531+ hours of teaching in 7,200+ lessons.

  • Hosted 1,106 Zoom lessons during the COVID-19 pandemic.

  • Instructed 177 masterclasses and beginner classes.

  • Hand-made over 2,740 bassoon reeds for students.

  • Taught at 11 Summer Camps - 7 with Bocal Majority + 4 with Longhorn Music Camp.

As an arts executive

  • Worked in all areas of performing arts admin, including box office, fundraising, event planning, marketing, board relations, strategic planning, volunteer management, and concert production.

  • Wrote 6 grants receiving $123,000 in funding for ASB from the Cultural Arts Division of Austin.

  • Raised $29,000+ in donations for ASB during 6 Amplify Austin Day campaigns, overall tripling the number of individual donors.

  • Planned and executed 32 Concerts at 9 venues for ASB for a group of 90+ volunteer musicians.

As a Designer & Content Creator

  • Designed bluemoonbassoon.com, victorpierceart.com, and austinsymphonicband.org using Squarespace and custom CSS + plugins.

  • Created social media content, published books, and designed fun and inclusive merchandise using Canva, Adobe InDesign, Adobe Illustrator, and Adobe Photoshop.

  • Designed engaging and effective email campaigns using Constant Contact and Squarespace.

  • Completed the General Assembly HTML, CSS, and Web Design Circuit.

Personal

June, grey tabby cat on a yellow pillow.
Calico cat laying on a table cloth that is teal with oranges and flowers.
 

Fun Facts About me!

  • I grew up in Austin, Texas, and attended Westlake High School.

  • I have two adorable cats, Olive & June.

  • In addition to bassoon, I play piano and autoharp.

  • I love to play board and video games.

  • I attend the Ren Faire in costume every year.

  • I almost played the clarinet but chose the bassoon instead in 6th grade.

  • I was also a professional cheesemonger for a year while I started my private lesson studio.

  • My husband and I love to build props for our Halloween display and patio Tiki Bar.

  • As a young bassoonist, I was a three-time Texas All-State student and was awarded Interlochen Maddy Summer Artist.

My focus as an educator is to develop students’ creative thinking, problem-solving, and confidence through music-making! As a private music teacher, I encouraged students to develop a warm, beautiful bassoon sound and find musical solutions to technical problems so we could make great music and have fun playing. Studying music builds confidence and develops patience while helping students learn to strategize, prioritize and think creatively.

Now as an entrepreneur and online content creator, I am focused on creating beautiful, accessible online bassoon resources that simplify complex ideas into easily understandable articles and activities! Since the bassoon community is relatively small, I am excited to create high-quality online content and improve access to educational materials for bassoonists of all ages.

 

my Teaching & Business philosophy

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recordings

Enjoy a selection of my favorite recordings from past performances.

 
Amanda and Victor Pierce at the Austin Symphonic Band Concert
Amanda Pierce with bassoon students.
Amanda Pierce performing at the Blanton Museum with the Go Organic Orchestra
Amanda Pierce teaching a bassoon student outdoors at Westlake High School Austin, TX.
Amanda Pierce performing in the Austin Opera Orchestra pit.
Amanda Pierce with Bocal Majority Bassoon Students.