Joel Pierson

Joel Pierson is a composer and pianist whose work straddles the worlds of jazz, pop, and contemporary classical music. He frequently uses humor as a means to engage audiences with new music.

Joel is the Artistic Director of The Queen’s Cartoonists, a jazz ensemble that uses animated films and comedy to reach concert-going audiences of all ages. TQC’s first studio album, Mozart’s Jazz Requiem, premiered at #4 on the Billboard Classical Crossover chart. He also directs The Court at Versailles, a group that performs acoustic versions of electronic dance music.

Joel also founded Sadsap Music, a music publishing company that focuses on humorous music education books. He has written seven books, including You Suck at Piano, 20 Piano Pieces for People with Emotional Problems, and The Crew Bar – a “disaster memoir” about his experience as the in-house pianist on a World Cruise.

Joel has collaborated with artists and ensembles as diverse as the Kronos Quartet, the New York Philharmonic, the Philly Pops, the Cleveland Orchestra, Linkin Park, and Ke$ha. Concert highlights include sold out shows at The Blue Note Jazz Club, Konzerthaus Berlin, and the Edinburgh Fringe Festival. 

Joel is a Yamaha Artist and is represented by CAMI Music. Hear him on NPR’s All Things Considered, here. He splits his time between Jackson Heights, Queens, NY, and San Miguel de Allende, Mexico.

Joel can be reached at no.juan (at) gmail (dot) com. And yes, Joel did get a shoulder massage from Paul McCartney.