NEW YORK, NY - Internationally acclaimed pianist Joshua Pierce has been named a Yamaha Artist by Yamaha Artist Services of New York. This affiliation, effective immediately, was jointly announced by Mr. Pierce and James Wooten, Yamaha Artist Services Manager

Joshua Pierce has provided the following statement, "When I heard that Yamaha was interested in having me as one of their artists, I was reservedly excited. (One learns in this business to quickly temper ones enthusiasm) When we got the word that it was indeed happening, I thought, "Wow. This is terrific! Here's a first class piano maker that's truly interested in what I'm doing, I've come home." While I was attending the Pre-College Music Program at Juilliard, the late Boris Yastrofsky, who was instrumental in making the American public more aware of Yamaha as a world player in the piano market, took an interest in my work and talent. Over the years of performing, my Yamaha G5 has been a real workhorse. Having played on Steinways, Baldwin, BlŸtners, Petrovs, Ibach, Bšsendorfer and Kawai, Yamaha has always been at the top. It is a terrific sounding instrument."

James Wooten has written the following, "There are many fine pianists today, but those who do the extra heavy lifting to explore and program generous amounts of new repertoire - that includes supporting composers of their own era - deserve special praise and recognition. In this group Joshua Pierce is a distinguished colleague. Add to this his recordings and performances of the standard repertoire, and it becomes clear why Yamaha is proud to welcome Joshua to its roster of distinguished artists."

You can find more about Yamaha Pianos at http://www.yamaha.com/PIANOS.HTM.

Joshua Pierce is critically acclaimed as one of today's most versatile, exciting and original pianists. He is renowned as a "thoroughly musical and brilliant modern interpreter" of the standard repertoire and is widely recognized as an important exponent of contemporary music. Mr. Pierce commands a vast repertoire and has played with many prestigious orchestras in Eastern and Western Europe, Latin America and the United States. He has served as a judge for several piano competitions including the International Center for Contemporary Opera and has served on the board of the United States Fulbright Commission for four years. Mr. Pierce has recorded for Helicon, Hallmark, Mastersound, MMC, Phoenix, Premier, Sony Classics, Platinum Entertainment and Carlton Classics (PolyGram). For more information about Joshua Pierce, visit his website at http://www.jamesarts.com/pierce/index2.html.

Joshua Pierce is represented by Jeffrey James Arts Consulting at 516-586-3433 or jamesarts@worldnet.att.net.