Vancouver 2010 Opening Ceremonies: Olympic Music Director David Pierce

Tonight Vancouver's GM Place will be the centre of attention for the sporting world as the 2010 Winter Olympics kick-off.

And the musical vision of Calgary composer and Olympic Music Director Dave Pierce, who wrote all the original music for the Olympic opening, closing and nightly victory ceremonies, will be a big part of that. 

For many people Olympic dreams take a lifetime to realize. For composer Dave Pierce, it took 22 years.

Pierce grew up in Calgary and was studying at the Mount Royal College Conservatory when the 1988 Olympics were in town. He remembers standing on the sidelines of the closing ceremonies and resolving to be the music director for the next Olympics held in Canada. “I had this overwhelming feeling that if Canada ever got the Games again, I wanted to be the guy overseeing all of the music,” Pierce says.

The musical virtuoso has worked with the likes of Jann Arden, Michael Bublé and acts from Cirque de Soleil, and has composed and conducted for the Stampede Grandstand Show for the last 17 years.

Tonight, Pierce will likely be on stage conducting the orchestra while his melodies are performed by famous and emerging artists. Recognizing that audiences expect a grand, epic score common to the ceremonies, Pierce says he wants to inject a new sound into it all.

Throughout his career, Pierce often heard that his work “sounds so Olympic.” Now, with the project and his creative vision in alignment, he’s hitting all the right notes. “This is probably the only time in my career where I come into the office and present it and people go, yep, that sounds right — it sounds Olympic,” he says.

More Calgary Connections to Vancouver 2010

And what can we expect to see in the Opening Ceremonies? In this preview video from vancouver2010.com the host sits down with David Atkins, the executive producer of the opening and closing ceremonies, to discuss how it all comes together.