(b. August 1951, Lansing, Illinois).

American composer of mostly stage and chamber works that have been performed throughout the world.

Ms. Vierk earned her BA in ethnomusicology and piano at the University of California, Los Angeles in 1974, then studied composition with Mel Powell, Leonard Stein and Morton Subotnick at the California Institute of the Arts in Valencia, Santa Clarita, where she earned her MFA in 1978. In addition, she studied gagaku (court music from Japan) privately with Suenobu Togi in Los Angeles in the 1970s and studied ryūteki (bamboo flute from Japan) privately with Sukeyasu Shiba in Tōkyō in the 1980s.

COMPLETE LIST OF WORKS

STAGE:

HEXA (dance music, choreography by Anita Feldman), 3 tap dancers (all + Tap Dance Instrument), percussion, live electronics, 1988

Twister (dance music, choreography by Anita Feldman), 2 tap dancers (both + Tap Dance Instrument), cello, marimba, 1993

Swash (dance music, choreography by Anita Feldman), 2 voices, 2 tap dancers, 1994

Shoo (dance music, choreography by Anita Feldman), 2 sopranos, 3 tap dancers (all + Tap Dance Instrument), cello, percussion, 1998

ORCHESTRAL:

Glacier Voices, symphonic band, 1992

Devil's Punchbowl, 1993

Silversword, gagaku orchestra, 1996

CHAMBER MUSIC:

Tusk, 18 trombones, 1981

Go Guitars, 5 electric guitars, 1981

Hyaku man no kyū – One Million Spheres, 8 ryūteki, 1983

Crane with 1,000 Wings, 8 violins, 1984

Manhattan Cascade, 4 accordions, 1985

Simoom, 8 cellos, 1986

Cirrus, 6 trumpets, 1987

Red Shift 1, electric guitar, cello, synthesizer, percussion, 1989

Jagged Mesa, 2 or more trumpets, 2 or more trombones, 2 or more bass trombones, 1990

Red Shift 2, 2 cellos, synthesizer, percussion, 1990

Red Shift 3, trumpet, electric guitar, cello, synthesizer, percussion, 1991

Red Shift 4, trumpet, electric guitar, piano (+ synthesizer), percussion, 1991

Timberline, flute, clarinet, bassoon, viola, double bass, piano (+ synthesizer), percussion, 1991

River Beneath the River, string quartet, 1993

Into the Brightening Air, string quartet, 1994, revised 1999

Dark Bourn, 4 bassoons, 4 cellos, 1995

Blue Jets Red Sprites, accordion, 1996

Demon Star, cello, marimba, 1996

Europa, French horn, 2 trumpets, trombone, tuba, 1997

Io, amplified flute, electric guitar, amplified marimba, 1999

Deep-water Waves, amplified bass clarinet, electric guitar, amplified violin, MIDI-keyboard, 2 MIDI-percussion, 2001

In Memories, soprano saxophone (+ bass saxophone), alto saxophone (+ baritone saxophone), trumpet, trombone, violin, cello, double bass, piano, marimba, 2002

In One, flute, guitar, marimba, 2003

In Memory, cello, piano, 2004

VOCAL:

Attack Cat Polka, voice, accordion, ensemble, 1988

PIANO:

Yeah Yeah Yeah, 1990

To Stare Astonished at the Sea, 1994

Spin 2, 2 pianos, 1995

SELECT DISCOGRAPHY

Go Guitars; Cirrus; Simoom. Gary Trosclair, trumpets; David Seidel, electric guitars; Ted Mook, cellos (XI Records: XI 102, 1990)

Manhattan Cascade. Guy Klucevsek, accordions (Composers Recordings, Inc.: CRI 626, 1993)

Red Shift 4. A Cloud Nine Consort (Composers Recordings, Inc.: CRI 646, 1993)

Timberline. Relâche (OOdiscs: 17, 1994)

Go Guitars. Seth Josel, electric guitars (OOdiscs: 36, 1998)

Blue Jets Red Sprites. Guy Klucevsek, accordion (Starkland: ST-209, 2000)

River Beneath the River; Into the Brightening Air; Jagged Mesa; Red Shift 1. Gary Trosclair, trumpets; Bruce Eidem, trombones; Christopher Banks, bass trombones; David Seidel, electric guitar; Patricia Davis, Eva Gruesser, violins; Lois Martin, viola; Ted Mook, Bruce Wang, cellos; Lois V Vierk, synthesizer; Jim Pugliese, percussion (Tzadik Records: TZ 7056, 2000)