Peter Boyer

Naxos recently released the world-premiere recording of GRAMMY-nominated composer/conductor Peter Boyer’s Symphony No. 1. The recording, featuring the London Philharmonic Orchestra (LPO) under Boyer’s direction, also includes four additional works by the composer: Silver Fanfare, Festivities, Celebration Overture and Three Olympians. Watch the video trailer, below, and hear some samples of this exciting new recording:

“The five works included on this recording represent a cross-section of my orchestral music composed over a period of some 15 years, from one of my earliest commissions to my most recent,” said Boyer. “It was a thrilling experience to conduct my music with the superb London Philharmonic Orchestra at Abbey Road Studios, and it’s deeply gratifying to have Naxos release this recording worldwide.”

Boyer’s 24-minute, three-movement Symphony No. 1, the centerpiece of his LPO recording, was commissioned by the Pasadena Symphony, and premiered by them under his baton in April 2013. The work contains music both deeply lyrical and rhythmically driving, and concludes with a powerful sense of affirmation. Boyer’s musical language draws inspiration from such iconic American composers as Aaron Copland, Leonard Bernstein, and John Williams, and these influences can be heard in the symphony. Boyer dedicated the score of his symphony to the memory of Leonard Bernstein, and this dedication was accepted by Bernstein’s children.

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Of the four additional works on the Naxos recording, three are short, exuberant pieces written for celebratory occasions, which demonstrate Boyer’s gifts for composing propulsive, colorful music for large orchestras. Silver Fanfare was composed as the first movement of the six-movement work On Music’s Wings, commissioned by the Pacific Symphony and its music director Carl St.Clair in celebration of its 25th anniversary in 2004. Festivities, here given its world-premiere recording, was commissioned and premiered by conductor Gerard Schwarz and the Eastern Music Festival, in celebration of its 50th anniversary in 2011. Celebration Overture was one of Boyer’s earliest commissions, composed in 1997 at the age of 27, for the inaugural season of the Henry Mancini Institute.

Reflecting the composer’s interest in mythology, Three Olympians for string orchestra was commissioned by the Conductors Institute at Bard College in 2000. Each of its movements was inspired by a Greek god of Olympus: Apollo, Aphrodite, and Ares.

Recorded at London’s historic Abbey Road Studio One, the Naxos recording was produced by Tim Handley, winner of the GRAMMY Award for Producer of the Year, Classical (2005). The recording engineer was Abbey Road’s Jonathan Allen, whose many credits include the recent film musical Les Miserables.

The Pasadena Symphony welcomes GRAMMY-nominated Peter Boyer as its Composer in Residence for the 2012-2013 season, and has commissioned his Symphony No. 1 to premiere in its landmark 85th anniversary season. This commission has been made possible through contributions by the Trustees of Claremont Graduate University. “We are very excited about working alongside such a well respected composer as we celebrate our 85th season,” explains Paul Jan Zdunek, Chief Executive Officer of the Pasadena Symphony Association. “Peter is an amazingly versatile talent, which is why he is in continuous demand in the orchestral and film industries.”

Boyer, a resident of Altadena and the Helen M. Smith Professor of Music at Claremont Graduate University, is one of the most frequently performed contemporary American orchestral composers of his generation. His work Ellis Island: The Dream of America has been performed over 125 times by nearly sixty orchestras in the last decade, and he has received commissions from organizations including the Boston Pops, Pacific Symphony, Eastern Music Festival, and the Bushnell Center for the Performing Arts. He has also contributed orchestrations to 20 feature film scores by top Hollywood composers.

In his role as Composer in Residence, Boyer will compose his first symphony as well as lead intimate salons with the Pasadena Symphony Association’s Fresh Ink Society. “This Society is a recently formed new music collective of the region’s most enthusiastic community leaders that are helping to realize the commission, performance and recording of its first project – the Symphony No. 1 of Peter Boyer,” states Zdunek. A wide range of community and Fresh Ink Society activities will culminate in the premiere of Boyer’s Symphony No. 1 on April 27, 2013 at Ambassador Auditorium.  Full season details of the 85th anniversary season will be announced in the coming weeks.

“I am honored and excited to accept the Pasadena Symphony’s invitation to serve as its Composer in Residence for the 2012-13 season,” says Boyer. “I have long admired this excellent orchestra, whose members include musical colleagues and friends. A commission for a first symphony is both a great challenge and splendid opportunity for any composer. I’m most grateful for this opportunity, and eagerly look forward to the collaboration ahead.”

The Fresh Ink Society is raising funds for a capstone to the season-long relationship with Boyer. “We hope to record Peter’s first symphony for the Naxos label,” continues Zdunek. “We are looking to have a few more people join us and Peter in the Fresh Ink Society, so that we may share Peter’s music and our Pasadena Symphony with listeners everywhere on this internationally released CD.” For information on how to support the Fresh Ink Society of the Pasadena Symphony Association, visit PasadenaSymphony-Pops.org or call their administrative offices at (626) 793-7172.