As the composer and music director for this year’s Calgary Stampede Grandstand Show and a member of the 2010 Olympic Winter Games creative team, Dave Pierce’s dance card is full.

For the past 16 years, Pierce has created the music for the internationally-acclaimed Grandstand Show for the Calgary Stampede. Now, he’ll be applying his great creative talent to another world-class event. Pierce will join the 17-person creative team tasked with creating the opening, closing and nightly victory ceremonies for the 2010 Olympic Winter Games in Vancouver.

“My appointment to this team is a great honour,” says Pierce. “It’s also a testament to the body of work I’ve created with the Stampede. There is no better training ground than working with the cast and crew of one of the largest entertainment spectacles produced in North America. The Stampede Grandstand Show is truly a one-of-a-kind production. The technical challenges of the fireworks display, the many intricate lighting and sound details, and working with an enormous volunteer cast and crew including The Young Canadians, allowed me to hone my skills in developing a show of this magnitude.”

According to Pierce, this year’s Grandstand Show is shaping up to be one of the best -- re-energized with a new format and new material, under show director and producer Bill Avery.

“From a musical point of view, we’ve embraced a wide spectrum of styles that have never before been a part of the show. We’ve infused edgy rock and pop music influences with Bollywood and other musical genres. It’s a very different show; it’s the 'Big Show’.”

“This year, we were given unprecedented creative freedom to explore new and dynamic formats. Never before has there been such a passion to explore new avenues while weaving in popular traditions such as the Young Canadians and the TransAlta Lights Up the Night fireworks display,” says Pierce. “We were inspired by a blank canvas to create something that wasn’t tried and true. We think we’ve met the challenge.”

Even though there is a tremendous amount of hard work and long hours that go into producing and working on something as big as the evening performance of the Stampede, Pierce is quick to point out that he wouldn’t keep returning to work at the Stampede if it didn’t bring such joy to his life.

Pierce is a musician in his own right and plays various instruments including the drums and piano. In his spare time, Pierce enjoys listening to his current IPod downloads including Coldplay, Frank Sinatra, Beck, Kardinal Offishall and the Montreal Symphony.