The University of Toledo Department of Music has hired Bradley Pierson as the new director of choral activities. Pierson replaces Stephen Hodge, who retired at the end of the spring quarter.

“He will build on the significant work of Dr. Hodge and take the UT choral program to new heights,” said Jason Stumbo, interim department head, last week. Pierson was selected from 40 candidates for the position after a May posting.

With a master’s degree in music from California State University-Los Angeles and a doctorate from the University of Washington, Pierson met the education requirements, but, said Stumbo, the search committee was seeking a self-starter who could pump new life into existing programs and, down the road, inaugurate new activities.

“I’m high energy, a passionate kind of guy,” said the new director, adding, “When I get excited, I go all in.”

While studying for a bachelor’s degree at the University of Nevada-Las Vegas, Pierson taught at local high schools where his choirs earned superior ratings at state competitions. He also founded the Las Vegas A Cappella Summit, bringing contemporary music to high school students.

While in Seattle as a graduate student, he created a project-based choral ensemble, whateverandeveramen., which focused on changing audience-performer dynamics through non-traditional performances in pubs and restaurants.

That ensemble continues to perform and is likely to show up in Toledo at some time, Pierson said. He left a tenure-track position at Western Illinois University to move to Toledo.

He’s a populist, said Pierson, 33, adding that quality occurs throughout the musical spectrum. “I don’t think that Bach is necessarily any more wonderful than the Beatles.”

His musical taste is wide-ranging, from Renaissance works to 20th century composer Hugo Distler to contemporary music inspired by Twitter posts.

“I don’t know a lot about the Toledo choral scene,” said Pierson, adding that he is happy to return to a larger city with diverse musical opportunities. Besides teaching classes and conducting campus choral groups, he hopes to pick up the traces of the former UT Community Chorus.

He knows it could be an uphill battle, at least at first. Participation in town-gown groups has not been robust, a trend that is widespread in the United States.

Plus, “Choral music doesn’t have a built-in audience,” Pierson said. “[Younger generations] don’t necessarily know what it’s about. The common young person isn’t walking up the street and heading into a choral concert.”

For him, performing choral music in the right context can help give it meaning and, perhaps, counter that trend.

He’s encouraged by recent activities in the UT music department, as other faculty rethink traditional concert formats and venues.

Stumbo, who is in charge of instrumental activities at UT, notes that, under the leadership of Denise Ritter-Bernardini, the Opera Ensemble has begun to build an audience through performances in nontraditional sites, including the Cloister at the Toledo Museum of Art and the Blarney Event Center. And more family-oriented band and orchestra concerts have drawn new and younger audiences to campus.

“We have an amazing faculty,” said Stumbo, who mentioned two other relatively new professors, Pam Stover, music education, and Tad Weed, jazz piano.

Stumbo envisions his department reaching further into the city and area with new programs. The intention, he says, “is of our department becoming a hub for community music performance and education.”

■ Saturday’s cultural phenomenon that was the Shostakovich Marathon drew capacity crowds to the Toledo Museum of Art’s GlasSalon for all four of the concerts. At least 30 people came and stayed for the entire run of 15 string quartets by Dmitri Shostakovich, said organizer Merwin Siu.

Others selected one or more from the day of concerts, which offered exceptionally fine performances of these intense, adventurous, and challenging works by the great Russian composer.

String players — most from the Toledo Symphony but with a few special guests — handled introductions to each of the quartets, providing musical insight and personal connections to the music, enhancing the listening.

Speaking for himself and many of his Toledo Symphony colleagues during the introduction to String Quartet No. 14, Op. 142, veteran violist Reed Anderson said that more than any other composer he has performed, “Shostakovich’s music is about deep emotion.”

The marathon was a collaboration between the symphony, the museum, and ADJ-ective New Music, a non-profit group that presents, publishes, and advocates new music.

■ Individual tickets for the Toledo Opera’s 2015-2016 season are now on sale. Just around the corner is Puccini’s Madama Butterfly on Oct. 2 and 4. Gershwin’s Porgy & Bess is slated to run Feb. 12 and 14, and Gounod’s Romeo et Juliette will close the season April 8 and 10. All performances will be in the Valentine Theatre. For tickets and information, call 419-255-7464 or visit toledoopera.org.

■ The Owens Community College Concert Band is preparing for its new season by inviting local instrumentalists to join. Led by Fred Dais, this group presents concerts on campus and in other area venues. Rehearsals are 3:30-5:30 p.m. Mondays and Wednesdays, with the first practice set for this Monday. For more information, call 567-661-7081.

The Blade’s Season of the Arts deadline is here. To have your event included in the big calendar to be published Sept. 13, submit items by Friday to svallongo@theblade.com.

First Published August 20, 2015, 4:00 a.m.