Peter Boyer (born February 10, 1970, in Providence, Rhode Island) is an American composer, conductor, orchestrator, and professor of music. He is known primarily for his orchestral works, which have received over 600 performances, by more than 250 orchestras.
In 2003, Boyer conducted London's Philharmonia Orchestra in a recording of his work Ellis Island: The Dream of America, later working with a distinguished cast of actors in New York City to complete this recording project, which was released on the Naxos record label. The recording received a Grammy Award nomination for Best Classical Contemporary Composition in the 48th annual Grammy Awards (2006).[4]Ellis Island has become Boyer's best-known work, with over 250 performances given by 120 orchestras, and has been much acclaimed: "Peter Boyer's Ellis Island: The Dream of America is a work of rare authenticity and directness."[5]
In February 2010, the Boston Pops Orchestra and Conductor Keith Lockhart announced that they had commissioned Boyer to compose a work entitled The Dream Lives On: A Portrait of the Kennedy Brothers, celebrating the legacy of John F. Kennedy, Robert F. Kennedy, and Edward M. Kennedy as the centerpiece of the orchestra's 125th anniversary season.[6],[7] In April 2010, the Boston Pops announced the participation of Hollywood actors Robert De Niro, Morgan Freeman, and Ed Harris as the narrators for Boyer's work.[8]The Dream Lives On was premiered at Boston's Symphony Hall on May 18, 2010. The event received extensive media attention, was attended by many members of the Kennedy family, and was recorded and telecast on Boston's WCVB-TV.[9],[10]The Boston Globe wrote: "Boyer's work accomplishes the goals… of amplifying the texts by these three American icons. His writing draws from the traditions of Williams-esque Hollywood film scores, Broadway musicals, and American neo-Romanticism."[11]
Conductor Miguel Harth-Bedoya appointed Boyer as the Composer-in-Residence for the Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra for the 2010–11 season. Conductor Gerard Schwarz commissioned Boyer to compose Festivities in celebration of the 50th anniversary of the Eastern Music Festival in 2011. Boyer was appointed as the 2012-13 Composer-in-Residence for the Pasadena Symphony, which commissioned his Symphony No. 1; he conducted the premiere of that work on April 27, 2013.[12] In June 2013, Boyer conducted the London Philharmonic Orchestra at Abbey Road Studios for his third recording, including his Symphony No. 1 and four other works. Naxos released this recording in 2014 to positive reviews: "Boyer writes in a fluent, powerful style that fuses conservative American currents with Hollywood-ish size and populist sentiment."[13]
In June 2015, Boyer's Silver Fanfare was chosen to open the Hollywood Bowl season, in a performance by the Hollywood Bowl Orchestra conducted by Thomas Wilkins, on a gala concert that featured the rock band Journey.[14] In January 2016, the Pacific Symphony announced that Boyer's Ellis Island would be the centerpiece of its annual American Composers Festival in 2017.[15] In March 2017, Pacific Symphony announced that their performances of Boyer's Ellis Island would be filmed for PBS' highly prestigious Great Performances series, to be broadcast in the 2017-18 season.[16] These Ellis Island performances received critical acclaim in the Los Angeles Times[17] and Orange County Register, which stated, "Boyer writes in an accessible style… which at its best is warm, attractive, emotionally persuasive and expertly crafted."[18] The PBS Great Performances national television debut of Ellis Island: The Dream of America with Pacific Symphony took place on June 29, 2018.[19],[20]
In July 2022, Naxos released Boyer’s album Balance of Power – Orchestral Works, with the composer conducting the London Symphony Orchestra. The album received positive reviews; among them, BBC Music Magazine wrote, “Peter Boyer’s broad-brush cinematic works have the orchestral buoyancy of John Williams and the absorbing emotionalism of the late James Horner.”[26] Boyer was commissioned for a work celebrating the coronation of King Charles III by the London-based ORA Singers and conductor Suzi Digby; the premiere of Today We Ask, with text by Grahame Davies and music by Boyer, at St. Paul’s, Covent Garden, was broadcast by Classic FM on May 5, 2023, the eve of the coronation.[27]
^Lawrence Vittes, review, "Boyer: Symphony No. 1," Gramophone, August 2014.
^Brenton Garen, "Danny DeVito, Journey kick off Hollywood Bowl's 94th season," Westside Today, June 22, 2015.
^Timothy Mangan, "Renée Fleming on tap as Pacific Symphony sets 2016-2017 season," Orange County Register, January 26, 2016.
^Press Release, "Pacific Symphony's 17th American Composers Festival Celebrates California Composers: John Adams, Peter Boyer and Frank Ticheli," PacificSymphony.org, March 13, 2017.
^Richard S. Ginell, "'Ellis Island: The Dream of America' mixes music and oral histories to tell immigrants' stories," Los Angeles Times, April 7, 2017.
^Paul Hodgins, "Ellis Island reminds us of our immigrant heritage at a crucial time," Orange County Register, April 8, 2017.
^Press Release, “Great Performances — Ellis Island: The Dream of America with Pacific Symphony,” THIRTEEN.org, May 25, 2018.
^Jon Burlingame, “L.A. Composer Looks East, Providing ‘Ellis Island’ Score for PBS’ ‘Great Performances’,” Variety, June 25, 2018.