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Peter Graham (born 1958) is a prolific British
composer
A composer is a person who writes music. The term is especially used to indicate composers of Western classical music, or those who are composers by occupation. Many composers are, or were, also skilled performers of music.
Etymology and Defi ...
for
brass band.
Graham was born in
Lanarkshire
Lanarkshire, also called the County of Lanark ( gd, Siorrachd Lannraig; sco, Lanrikshire), is a historic county, lieutenancy area and registration county in the central Lowlands of Scotland.
Lanarkshire is the most populous county in Scotlan ...
, Scotland. He studied at the
University of Edinburgh
The University of Edinburgh ( sco, University o Edinburgh, gd, Oilthigh Dhùn Èideann; abbreviated as ''Edin.'' in post-nominals) is a public research university based in Edinburgh, Scotland. Granted a royal charter by King James VI in 15 ...
and then undertook postgraduate studies with
Edward Gregson
Edward Gregson (born 23 July 1945) is an English composer of instrumental and choral music, particularly for brass and wind bands and ensembles, as well as music for the theatre, film, and television. He was also principal of the Royal Northern ...
at
Goldsmiths College, University of London
Goldsmiths, University of London, officially the Goldsmiths' College, is a constituent research university of the University of London in England. It was originally founded in 1891 as The Goldsmiths' Technical and Recreative Institute by the Wor ...
. He holds a
PhD in composition.
From 1983 until 1986, he lived in
New York City
New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...
, where he worked as a freelance composer/arranger and as a publications editor with the S.A. Music Bureau. Since his return to the U.K., he has worked regularly as an arranger for
BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC
Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...
...
Television and Radio and has specialised in composition for brass band. Since the publication of ''Dimensions'' (1983), he has carved out a niche as an outstanding arranger for brass bands, and a leading figure amongst contemporary band composers. His original compositions, which include ''The Essence of Time'', ''Montage'' and ''Journey to the Centre of the Earth'', are performed worldwide and have been selected as test pieces for National Championships in Australia, New Zealand, North America and across Europe.
His music for wind and concert band has been recorded and performed by many of the world’s leading ensembles, including the
Tokyo Kosei Wind Orchestra
The is a professional concert band based in Tokyo, Japan. TKWO has been called Japan's premiere wind ensemble', one of the most influential Japanese wind bands,' and one of the world's leading professional civilian wind bands.'
History ...
and the
Royal Norwegian Navy Band. ''Harrison's Dream'', commissioned by the
United States Air Force Band
The United States Air Force Band is a U.S. military band consisting of 184 active-duty members of the United States Air Force.
It is the Air Force's premier musical organization and is based at Bolling Air Force Base, Washington, D.C.. Within t ...
, Washington D.C., won the 2002
American Bandmasters Association
The American Bandmasters Association (ABA) was formed in 1929 by Edwin Franko Goldman to promote concert band music.Raoul F. Camus. "American Bandmasters Association." In Grove Music Online. Oxford Music Online, http://www.oxfordmusiconline.com/sub ...
Ostwald Award The Sousa/Ostwald Award is an annual award given by the American Bandmasters Association for a composition for concert band
A concert band, also called a wind band, wind ensemble, wind symphony, wind orchestra, symphonic band, the symphonic wi ...
for composition. Commissioned by BMG/RCA Red Label to arrange and compose an album of xylophone music for virtuoso
Evelyn Glennie
Dame Evelyn Elizabeth Ann Glennie, (born 19 July 1965) is a Scottish people, Scottish percussionist. She was selected as one of the two laureates for the Polar Music Prize of 2015.
Early life
Glennie was born in Methlick, Aberdeenshire in Sco ...
, the resulting recording was nominated as Best Classical Crossover Album at the 1999
Grammy Awards
The Grammy Awards (stylized as GRAMMY), or simply known as the Grammys, are awards presented by the Recording Academy of the United States to recognize "outstanding" achievements in the music industry. They are regarded by many as the most pres ...
held in Los Angeles.
Graham's music for brass has also been arranged for various ensembles, from
fanfare orchestra
A fanfare orchestra ( Dutch ''fanfareorkest'', French ''harmonie-fanfare'') is a type of brass band consisting of the entire saxophone family, trumpets, trombones, euphoniums, baritone horns, flugelhorns and alto/tenor- or F-horns, as well as perc ...
s of the
Benelux
The Benelux Union ( nl, Benelux Unie; french: Union Benelux; lb, Benelux-Unioun), also known as simply Benelux, is a politico-economic union and formal international intergovernmental cooperation of three neighboring states in western Europe: B ...
countries to marching bands of the US. The
Blue Knights Drum and Bugle Corps’ highest-ranked show to date (a 6th-place finish from their 2000 production entitled ''Colors of Brass and Percussion'') was built entirely around his compositions ''The Essence of Time'' and ''Montage''. The 2006
Bands of America
Bands of America (BOA) is a music education advocacy organization and promoter of high school marching band competitions in the United States, such as the annual Grand National Championships. Established in 1975 as Marching Bands of America (MBA), ...
Grand National Champions from
Broken Arrow High School featured his music ''
Harrison's Dream''. Both the
Santa Clara Vanguard Drum and Bugle Corps and
Blue Devils Drum and Bugle Corps performed excerpts from ''Triumph of Time'' in their 2017 shows (entitled Ouroboros and Metamorph, respectively), while Vanguard performed excerpts from ''Metropolis 1927'' and ''Journey to the Centre of the Earth'' in their award-winning championship 2018 show.
Graham has held posts as Music Associate with the
Black Dyke Band
Black Dyke Band, formerly John Foster & Son Black Dyke Mills Band, is one of the oldest and best-known brass bands in the world. It originated as multiple community bands founded by John Foster at his family's textile mill in Queensbury, West ...
(1997–2004), and as composer-in-residence with
Her Majesty's Coldstream Guards Band. He lives in
Cheshire
Cheshire ( ) is a ceremonial and historic county in North West England, bordered by Wales to the west, Merseyside and Greater Manchester to the north, Derbyshire to the east, and Staffordshire and Shropshire to the south. Cheshire's county t ...
, England, with his wife and children. He is currently Professor of Composition at the
University of Salford
, caption = Coat of ArmsUniversity of Salford
, mottoeng = "Let us seek higher things"
, established = 1850 - Pendleton Mechanics Institute 1896 – Royal Technical Institute, Salford 1967 – gained ...
, specializing in arranging and composing for the brass and wind band lineup.
Discography
* ''Peter Graham''
* ''Call of the Cossacks''
* ''Gaelforce''
* ''The Red Machine''
* ''The Peter Graham Collection''
External links
Gramercy Music, Graham's music publishing companyMySpace.com/petergrahammusic, Graham's MySpace pageInterview with Graham at 4barsrest.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:Graham, Peter
1958 births
Living people
Brass band composers
Scottish composers
Academics of the University of Salford
Alumni of the University of Edinburgh
Alumni of Goldsmiths, University of London