Peterson, Wayne

Peterson, Wayne, American composer and teacher; b. Albert Lea, Minn., Sept. 3, 1927. He studied with Early Rymer (piano) and with Paul Fetler, Earl George, and James Aliferis (composition) at the Univ. of Minn. (B.A., 1951; M.A., 1953; Ph.D., 1960); also with Lennox Berkeley and Howard Ferguson at the Royal Academy of Music in London. He served on the music faculty of the Univ. of Minn. (1953–54), Chico (Calif.) State Coll. (1959–60), and San Francisco State Coll. (later Univ.; from 1960). He held numerous NEA awards. In 1989–90 he held a Guggenheim fellowship (1989–90). In 1992 he won the Pulitzer Prize in Music for his orch. works The Face of the Night, the Heart of the Dark.

Works

orch.:Introduction and Allegro (1953); Free Variations (1954–58); Exaltation, Dithyramb and Caprice (1959–60); Cataclysms (1968); Clusters and Fragments for Strings (1969); Transformations II for Chamber Orch. (1985; San Francisco, April 11, 1986); Trilogy (1987; Saratoga, Calif., June 18, 1988); The Widening Gyre (1990; N.Y., Feb. 10, 1991); The Face of the Night, the Heart of the Dark (1990–91). chamber:Metamorphosis for Wind Quintet (1967); Phantasmagoria for Flute, Clarinet, and Double Bass (1968); Capriccio for Flute and Piano (1973); Transformations for String Quartet (1974); Encounters for 9 Players (1976); An Interrupted Serenade for Flute, Harp, and Cello (1978); Sextet (1982); String Quartet (1983–84); Ariadne’s Thread for Harp, Flute, Clarinet, Horn, Percussion, and Violin (1985); Duodecaphony for Viola and Cello (1986–87).

—Nicolas Slonimsky/Laura Kuhn/Dennis McIntire