Peter Boyer

Peter Boyer (born February 10, 1970 in Providence, Rhode Island) is an American composer, conductor, orchestrator, and professor of music. He is known primarily for his orchestral works, which have received over 600 performances, by more than 250 orchestras. Biography and work Boyer received a Bachelor of Arts degree from Rhode Island College. While an undergraduate, USA Today named him to its first All-USA College Academic Team (1990), composed of "the 20 best and brightest" college students in the United States, and he received the Young American Award. He received Master of Music and Doctor of Musical Arts degrees from The Hartt School of the University of Hartford, where he studied composition with Larry Alan Smith and Robert Carl and conducting with Harold Farberman. Boyer then studied privately with composer John Corigliano in New York, before relocating to Los Angeles to attend the Scoring for Motion Pictures and Television Program at the USC Thornton School of Music. There Boyer studied with composers including Elmer Bernstein, David Raksin, Buddy Baker and Christopher Young. On completing his studies in 1996, Boyer was appointed to the faculty of Claremont Graduate University, and in 1999 he was named the first recipient of its Helen M. Smith Chair in Music. In 2003, Boyer established the publishing company Propulsive Music. Boyer has received a number of significant commissions for his work. Among the many orchestras that have performed Boyer's works are the Boston Symphony Orchestra, National Symphony Orchestra, Hollywood Bowl Orchestra, Philadelphia Orchestra, Cleveland Orchestra, Dallas Symphony, Cincinnati Pops Orchestra, Houston Symphony, Detroit Symphony, San Diego Symphony, Nashville Symphony, Pacific Symphony, Colorado Symphony, Phoenix Symphony, Brooklyn Philharmonic, Buffalo Philharmonic, Fort Worth Symphony, Kansas City Symphony, Virginia Symphony, Hartford Symphony, Des Moines Symphony, Pasadena Symphony, and Bamberg Symphony. In 2001, Boyer conducted the London Symphony Orchestra at Abbey Road Studios in his debut commercial recording. On its release, Boyer became one of the youngest composers to have an entire album of his orchestral music recorded with a world-class orchestra and distributed by an international record label (Koch). This recording was widely broadcast and acclaimed: "Peter Boyer makes a most impressive debut on disc as composer and conductor of his own music.