Peter Boyer
Composer
Peter Boyer is one of the most frequently performed American orchestral composers of his generation. His works have received over 800 public performances by more than 300 orchestras, and tens of thousands of broadcasts by classical radio stations around the United States and abroad. He has conducted recordings of his music with three of the world’s finest orchestras: the London Symphony Orchestra, the Philharmonia Orchestra, and the London Philharmonic Orchestra, all for the Naxos label. His major work Ellis Island: The Dream of America, for actors and orchestra, has received nearly 300 performances, and was nationally televised with the Pacific Symphony on PBS’ Great Performances.
Boyer has received commissions from prestigious American institutions and ensembles, including the Kennedy Center for the National Symphony Orchestra, the Boston Symphony Orchestra for the Boston Pops, the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra for the Cincinnati Pops, the Pacific Symphony, and “The President’s Own” United States Marine Band, which premiered his Fanfare for Tomorrow at the inauguration of President Biden. Other orchestras which have performed Boyer’s music include the Philadelphia Orchestra, Cleveland Orchestra, Hollywood Bowl Orchestra, Pittsburgh Symphony, Dallas Symphony, Houston Symphony, Detroit Symphony, and Nashville Symphony.
A resident of Altadena, Boyer served as Composer in Residence of the Pasadena Symphony for the 2012-13 season. In 2019, Boyer received the Ellis Island Medal of Honor. In 2023, his work Today We Ask, commissioned by London’s ORA Singers to celebrate the Coronation of King Charles III, was premiered at St. Paul’s, Covent Garden, and broadcast by Classic FM. www.propulsivemusic.com