photo by Richard Poppino

Pierre-Alain Chevalier has worn many hats in his career, crossing the entire country to perform with numerous ensembles and teach students of all ages.  With a community-centered approach to concert programming and performance, Chevalier made a name for himself as music director of the Baytown Symphony Orchestra in Texas, garnering the attention of the Houston Chronicle and winning third in the American Prize in 2019 and 2021. He holds high standards of every group he leads, encouraging musicians to surpass their own expectations with an eye toward musical—as opposed to technical—objectives.

Chevalier has taught a variety of musical subjects to students of all ages, from Horizon School (2007) in Tualatin to Stephen F. Austin State University (2019) in Nacogdoches, Texas, and back to Mt. Hood Community College (2022), there’s hardly an age group or musical subject he has not taught. He has conducted the Willamette Valley Symphony (OR), Mt. Hood Pops Orchestra (OR), Symphony of Southeast Texas, Coeur D’Alene Symphony (ID), Rainier Symphony (WA), the Gwinnett Symphony Chamber Orchestra (GA), the Bayou City Symphony (TX), and the Rose City Chamber Orchestra (OR) as well as numerous secondary and university choirs, orchestras, operas, and musical theater productions.

Additional activities include composition, music production, videography and photography, and general creativity in multimedia. In 2016 he was a winner of the International Conductors Workshop and Competition in Atlanta, Georgia and holds degrees from the Moores School of Music (DMA), The Hartt School (MM), and Willamette University (BM).