Jeff Peterson is a

slack key guitar Slack-key guitar (from Hawaiian ''kī hōalu'', which means "loosen the uningkey") is a fingerstyle genre of guitar music that originated in Hawaii after Portuguese cowboys introduced Spanish guitars there in the late 19th century. The Hawaiia ...

player from

Maui The island of Maui (; Hawaiian: ) is the second-largest of the islands of the state of Hawaii at 727.2 square miles (1,883 km2) and is the 17th largest island in the United States. Maui is the largest of Maui County's four islands, which ...

, Hawaii. The son of a

paniolo A cowboy is an animal herder who tends cattle on ranches in North America, traditionally on horseback, and often performs a multitude of other ranch-related tasks. The historic American cowboy of the late 19th century arose from the '' vaquer ...

at Haleakala Ranch, Jeff was exposed to the sounds of slack key at an early age. Jeff's style fuses traditional Slack Key with elements of classical and jazz guitar, at which styles he is also adept. Jeff studied classical guitar at USC's

Thornton School of Music The USC Thornton School of Music is a private music school in Los Angeles, California. Founded in 1884 only four years after the University of Southern California, the Thornton School is the oldest continually operating arts institution in Los An ...

before returning to the islands to play and teach in the Honolulu area. Jeff has contributed to many albums, including a series of slack key and bamboo flute duets with Riley Lee, several slack key compilations including the Grammy Winning album "Slack Key Guitar Volume 2", "Slack Key Guitar: The Artistry of Jeff Peterson", as well as his most recent solo album "Maui On My Mind". He performed at BAM's

Next Wave Festival Next Wave is a biennial festival based in Melbourne, which promotes and showcases the work of young and emerging artists. Next Wave encourages interdisciplinary practice and fosters the creation and presentation of works by emerging artists wor ...

in 2008 in collaboration with the string quartet

ETHEL Ethel (also '' æthel'') is an Old English word meaning "noble", today often used as a feminine given name. Etymology and historic usage The word means ''æthel'' "noble". It is frequently attested as the first element in Anglo-Saxon names, b ...

. His Concerto for Slack Key Guitar, ''Mālama ʻĀina'', commissioned by the Raleigh Civic Symphony Orchestra and their conductor Peter Askim to celebrate the centennial of the

National Park Service The National Park Service (NPS) is an agency of the United States federal government within the U.S. Department of the Interior that manages all national parks, most national monuments, and other natural, historical, and recreational propertie ...

, was premiered November 6, 2016, by the Raleigh Civic Chamber Orchestra with Peterson as the soloist. Its three movements are dedicated to the three volcanoes in Hawaii that are located within the National Park System: Haleakala, Kilauea, and

Mauna Loa Mauna Loa ( or ; Hawaiian: ; en, Long Mountain) is one of five volcanoes that form the Island of Hawaii in the U.S. state of Hawaii in the Pacific Ocean. The largest subaerial volcano (as opposed to subaqueous volcanoes) in both mass and ...

. The concerto is featured in ''Wahi Pana'', a full-length feature film DVD (and its soundtrack CD) about the music and life of Peterson. The concerto was given its Hawaii premiere on December 10, 2017, by the Hawaii Symphony Orchestra at

Blaisdell Concert Hall The Neal S. Blaisdell Center is a community center near downtown Honolulu, Hawaii. The complex has a multi-purpose arena, concert hall, exhibition hall, galleria, meeting rooms, Waikiki Shell and others. Constructed in 1964 on the historic Wa ...

with Peterson as the soloist and Carl St. Clair as the conductor."Jeff Peterson & Mālama ʻĀina"
Hawaii Symphony Orchestra website. Jeff has shared the stage with many Hawaiian legends at concerts throughout the islands and Japan, and recently did a stint with the Nashville Symphony. He was a former guitar professor at the

University of Hawaii at Manoa A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United States, t ...

Oahu Oahu () (Hawaiian language, Hawaiian: ''Oʻahu'' ()), also known as "The Gathering place#Island of Oʻahu as The Gathering Place, Gathering Place", is the third-largest of the Hawaiian Islands. It is home to roughly one million people—over t ...

References

External links

Jeff Peterson Official Website

Podcast featuring Jeff Peterson originally broadcast on WKCR 89.9 FM-NY

Jeff Peterson Bio on Palm Records' Website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Peterson, Jeff Slack-key guitarists Living people Year of birth missing (living people) People from Maui Guitarists from Hawaii USC Thornton School of Music alumni Place of birth missing (living people) American male guitarists