Alan Pierson, the Artistic Director and conductor of Alarm Will Sound, has been named the new Artistic Director of the Brooklyn Philharmonic. Pierson's debut 2011-2012 season will be announced later this spring. He will continue to maintain his directorship of Alarm Will Sound.

“We have recommitted ourselves to serving New York City’s largest and most musical Borough—Brooklyn," says the Philharmonic's newly elected Chairman of the Board, Jack W. Rainey. "Alan Pierson is a brilliant choice to forge this new artistic vision. An exciting and inspiring musician and leader, he is well-connected to the breadth of groundbreaking new music being generated in Brooklyn and beyond. Alan has impressive ideas, intellect, experience, and a deep commitment to the Borough—we feel this is exactly what is needed to create the new Brooklyn Philharmonic."

On the podium, Pierson has been praised as “commanding” by the New York Times, “gifted and electrifying” by the Boston Globe, and for his “insouciant virtuosity” by the Financial Times. He has appeared as guest conductor with the London Sinfonietta, the Steve Reich Ensemble, the Orchestra of St. Luke’s, Carnegie Hall’s Ensemble ACJW, the Tanglewood Music Center Orchestra, the New World Symphony, and The Silk Road Project, among other ensembles. His work with Alarm Will Sound can be heard on their full-length Nonesuch album debut, 2009's a/rhythmia, and on Steve Reich's 2001 album Triple Quartet, featuring the ensemble's performance of Reich's Music for Large Ensemble.

“It is a great honor to be asked to help build the future of the Brooklyn Philharmonic,” Pierson stated. “Brooklyn is experiencing a kind of renaissance. Extraordinary things are happening everywhere. My goal is for the Brooklyn Philharmonic to connect with the Borough’s vast, unique population through events that celebrate and reflect its incredibly diverse communities, and to do so in a way that involves original music-making which will be of interest beyond Brooklyn as well. We will become ‘Brooklyn’s Orchestra’ like never before.”

As artistic director, Alan Pierson will guide the Brooklyn Philharmonic’s overall artistic effort through adventurous new concerts, commissions, and the Philharmonic’s extensive education and community programming.

He is designing a new flagship series called Junctions, which will bring the orchestra into communities all around the Borough, developing original collaborations with artists that enrich the communities it visits as well as the orchestra itself. These concerts will be free or low-cost, use a variety of indoor and outdoor venues, and will demonstrate the orchestra’s ability to make music in any number of styles.

The Brooklyn Philharmonic will soon have a new home: a decommissioned firehouse in Cobble Hill, estimated to open in summer 2012. Once renovated, it will house a performance space, rehearsal studios, classrooms, and administrative offices for the orchestra and its education partner Create.

For more information on Pierson's appointment and the Brooklyn Philharmonic's future plans, visit brooklynphilharmonic.org. To peruse Pierson and Alarm Will Sound's Nonesuch catalog, click here.