Randolph Peters | The Canadian Encyclopedia

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Randolph Peters

Randolph Peters, composer (b at Winnipeg 28 Dec 1959).

Randolph Peters

Randolph Peters, composer (b at Winnipeg 28 Dec 1959). After earning a degree in physics and religious studies at the UNIVERSITY OF WINNIPEG, Peters studied composition at Indiana University. In the mid-1980s he travelled around the world studying the indigenous music of countries such as India, Nepal, Egypt and Gabon. Returning to Canada in 1987, he embarked on a compositional career that has included scores for almost 100 films, including The Diviners, For Those Who Hunt the Wounded Down and Lost in the Barrens, and music for television, radio, dance and theatre. His orchestral works include concertos for orchestra, trombone, The Adventures of PianoWoman! for piano, and The Orpheus Interludes, Dreaming-tracks and Free Fall. He has written operas for the CANADIAN OPERA COMPANY, notably The Golden Ass (1999) with a libretto by Robertson DAVIES. His orchestral work Paradoxes of the Heart (1992) is based on themes used in his first opera Nosferatu (1990-93). He is presently working on an opera Inanna's Journey (libretto by Margaret ATWOOD) that is scheduled to be performed at the Four Seasons Centre, Toronto. From 1996 to 2001 Peters was composer-in-residence and curator for the WINNIPEG SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA and as such managed their successful annual New Music Festival.