Since his first performances at the Los Angeles Music Center inthe early 1970’s, Stephen Piazza has been privileged to share theconcert stage with some of the music world’s greatest artists. PlacidoDomingo, Dawn Upshaw, Leontyne Price, Itzhak Perlman, LeonardBernstein, Zubin Mehta, and Esa-Pekka Salonen are among the dozens ofmusical luminaries with whom Piazza has appeared. In addition tohundreds of concerts with the L.A. Philharmonic at the Music Center andthe Hollywood Bowl, he has also performed in such internationallyacclaimed venues as Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center, Kennedy Center,Paris’s Theatre du Chatelet, Mexico City’s Palacio des Belles Artes,Birmingham’s (U.K.) Sir Adrian Boult Hall, and Cologne’sPhilharmonie.  In October 2003 he participated in the nationallytelevised opening concerts of Frank Gehry’s magnificent Los Angeleslandmark, the Walt Disney Concert Hall, and in August 2004 he conductedthe Idyllwild Festival Wind Ensemble in the first wind band performancein Disney Hall. As a member of the Los Angeles Opera orchestra and LongBeach Symphony, he continues to perform with the current array ofworld-renowned conductors, singers and soloists.1978 marked the year Piazza began performing with major motion picture,TV, and recording studio orchestras. His clarinet and bass clarinetplaying can be heard on a wide variety of recordings including thesoundtracks to “The Invasion of the Body Snatchers,” “The Flintstones,”“Mickey’s Twice Upon a Christmas,” the symphonies and concertos ofLutoslawski and Prokofiev, as well as the most current CD’s by popmusic icons Josh Groban and Barbra Streisand.

1978 was also the year Piazza accepted a faculty position at LosAngeles Pierce College. Five years later, as chair of the College’smusic department, he began to reorganize the wind band program. Withthe newly-formed Los Angeles Pierce Symphonic Winds as the school’spremier performing group, he began to build a community–based ensemblethat would eventually perform throughout the United States, Canada,Italy and the United Kingdom. In June 2004, the L.A. Winds were thefeatured American performers at the “Festival des Anches d’Azur” inscenic La Croix-Valmer in the south of France.   Plans arecurrently underway for the L.A. Winds to perform in Austria at the MidEuropean Band and Orchestra Festival.  In addition to his work asa guest conductor and clinician, Piazza has also served as assistantconductor of the San Fernando Valey Symphony, and recently he acceptedthe poition as conductor of the Kadima Consortium.  In February2005 he was awarded a Citation of Merit from the California BandDirector’s Association and in April, he was the recipient of theChamber of Commerce’s “R.O.L.E.” - Recognizing Outstanding Leaders inEducation” - award for his leadership in the field of education.

During the summers, Maestro Piazza conducts the prestigious FestivalWind Ensemble at the Idyllwild School of Music and the Arts.  Asdirector of the festival’s wind program for nearly 20 years, he hashelped Idyllwild Arts become one of America’s leading summer musicprograms and year-round arts academies.

Born in New York City in 1950, Piazza moved with his family to LosAngeles in 1957, and remained in California to earn both his bachelorsand masters degrees from the University of Southern California. After studies with such legendary artist/educators as Mitchell Lurie,Ingolf Dahl, and Frederic Fennell, he began his own teaching career -first at California Lutheran College and, two years later, at LosAngeles Pierce College.