It’s been a busy year so far for Charles Peck. In addition to being one of the eight resident composers for the 2017 Mizzou International Composers Festival, in the past two months he was selected for the Minnesota Orchestra’s Composers Institute, and also won the Boston New Music Initiative‘s annual commissioning competition.
Just this week, Peck’s oboe and tape piece “Fade” was performed at the NYC Electroacoustic Music Festival, a couple of days after his audiovisual work “Ferrous” was featured at the Caz Counterpoint Festival in Cazenovia, NY.
In addition, in June the Albany Symphony performed Peck’s “Mosaic” during the American Music Festival at EMPAC Concert Hall in Troy, NY as part of their Composer to Center Stage program. And in May, he had the debut performance of his work at Carnegie Hall, as members of the New York Youth Symphony played his new piano quartet “Sunburst” at Carnegie’s Weill Recital Hall.
With all this going on, Peck (pictured) also found time to complete “Vinyl,” which Alarm Will Sound will perform as part of the MICF’s “Eight World Premieres” grand finale on Saturday, July 29 at the Missouri Theatre.
A Philadelphia native, Peck currently is a doctoral candidate at Cornell University, where he has received the Otto R. Stahl Memorial Award in composition. Previously, Peck earned a bachelor’s degree in music industry from Drexel University, and a master’s in music from the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music.
His works have been performed by groups and soloists including the Kaleidoscope Chamber Orchestra, Symphony in C, the New York Youth Symphony, the JACK Quartet, Sandbox Percussion, ensemble mise-en, the Locrian Chamber Players, sTem, Derek Bermel, Ji Hye Jung, Rachel Calloway, Xak Bjerken, and Holly Roadfeldt.
Peck’s music also has been featured at the Aspen Music Festival, the Lake George Music Festival, the New Music Gathering, and the highSCORE Festival.
His honors and awards include winning the Lake George Music Festival’s Composition Competition, the NC New Music Initiative’s Orchestral Composition Competition, the Frame Dance Music Composition Competition, and the Symphony in C’s Young Composers’ Competition; taking part in the Castleton Festival’s Young Composer’s Forum; and winning grants from the McKnight Foundation, the American Composers Forum, and the Cornell Council for the Arts.
You can find out more about Charles Peck in the interview he did a couple of weeks ago on KMUC’s “Mizzou Music” program, and you can listen to his music on his SoundCloud page and in the embedded players below.
“Rift & Shade” performed by the JACK Quartet
“Mosaic,” world premiere performance by Kaleidoscope Chamber Orchestra on September 18, 2016 at First Presbyterian Church in Santa Monica, CA.
“Fade” for oboe and tape, performed by Mattie Peck