Peter Kramer

Peter Kramer was born in Portland, OR. He studied music composition and harpsichord performance at the Oberlin Conservatory of Music and music composition at The Graduate Center, City University of New York (CUNY). He is active as a composer, educator and keyboardist in New York City.

THE QUESTIONS

What is your earliest musical memory that, in looking back, has proved to be significant regarding your career as a composer?

During my time as a student at Mount Hood Community College I took part in a performance of Beethoven’s 9th Symphony. I sang in the choir. This experience changed my life. My teacher and mentor Dr. Marshall Tuttle is responsible for this opportunity.

Are there composers who have been influential or relevant regarding your own work?  Has this changed over time?

The music of JS Bach and Beethoven have been a persistent source of inspiration for me, along with the music of my teachers and friends Dr. Marshall Tuttle, Lewis Nielson, and Reiko Fueting.

How do you approach the question of “form” especially for longer works?

I am constantly looking back at older material that I have written and set aside. Many of my recent compositions consist of reworking, layering, and fragmenting this material into single or multi-movement works. This process reminds me of tending a garden.

Would you mind speaking a little concerning your working process, i.e., do you have a regular schedule for writing; do you use a computer for composing (either for creating pre-composition materials or notation), if so, do you find that it inhibits your process?  What other technology, if any, do you use?

I don’t have a fixed schedule for composition. I compose by hand and then engrave the music into a notation software via my computer. I try to write as much as I can, and often work on several projects at once. 

Please describe a recent work and provide a link to a video/audio clip.

The Garden (solo piano) consists of seven movements composed between 2007 to 2023. These movements were compiled and edited in 2023. Each movement deals with a four-part contrapuntal texture. The Garden is dedicated to my friend Shay Scott who helped bring these pieces to life.