Peter studied music at St John’s College, Oxford and began his operatic career as Chorus Master at Glyndebourne, followed by several years as Head of Music Staff and Resident Conductor with The Australian Opera in Sydney. He returned to London to become Assistant Music Director at English National Opera, where his repertoire included Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg, Otello, Rigoletto, Carmen, Maria Stuarda, Orfeo, Hansel & Gretel, The Turn of the Screw, and all the major Mozart operas.
Recent performances in the UK and elsewhere have included L’amore dei tre re, Norma, I Gioielli della Madonna and Falstaff (Opera Holland Park), Aida and La Fanciulla del West (Opera Queensland), a triple bill of Massenet and Martinu (Guildhall School), and the 25th anniversary revival of Jonathan Miller’s ENO production of The Mikado, of which he was the original conductor.
Further credits include Madama Butterfly, Tosca, Aida and Carmen (Royal Albert Hall), Andrea Chénier, Turandot and La Traviata (Opera Queensland), Die Zauberflöte (Opera Zuid), and Falstaff (Scottish Opera). Peter has worked with most of the major British orchestras, and has appeared many times with the BBC Concert Orchestra.
For television, he has conducted Jonathan Miller’s productions of Così fan tutte and The Mikado, and, for Channel 4, The Marriage of Figaro. For eight years he was Artistic Director of British Youth Opera, for whom he most recently conducted La Cenerentola, Paul Bunyan, The Bartered Bride, The Rake’s Progress and Malcom Williamson’s English Eccentrics.
In addition to his work as a performer, he teaches and coaches singers regularly at the National Opera Studio, the Royal Opera House’s Jette Parker Young Artists’ Programme, and the Guildhall School, as well as the Royal College of Music, and the Royal Academy of Music where he was recently elected Hon ARAM.
Projects in 2016 included Tchaikovsky’s The Queen of Spades for Opera Holland Park and English Eccentrics by Malcolm Williamson for British Youth Opera. He also co-conducted ENO’s Marvellous Miller, celebrating Jonathan Miller’s productions spanning 40 years at the London Coliseum.
During the 2017 summer season he made his fifteenth consecutive appearance at Opera Holland Park, conducting Leoncavallo’s Zazá, followed by Verdi’s Requiem in aid of the victims of the Grenfell Tower fire. Peter also conducted the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra for the Finals of The Grange Festival International Singing Competition in Hampshire.
In 2018, he conducted La Bohème for Dorset Opera, and the orchestral course at Uppingham Summer School. In 2019, Peter conducted Manon Lescaut for Opera Holland Park, La Cenerentola for British Youth Opera and the Finals of the Grange Festival International Singing Competition with the Academy of Ancient Music at Merchant Taylors Hall, London.
Plans for 2020 include opera scenes at the Guildhall School and Britten’s Albert Herring at the Royal Academy of Music in May.