Artist Statement
Composing art music for me involves the intellectualization of intuited ideas and the transmutation of such ideas into organized sound. If I have done my job well, my compositions will be imbued with something from my inner self, a feeling-tone, and will have the potential to speak to others. My compositions are highly structured, panchromatic and clearly goal orientated. I draw upon the inherent logic suggested by the musical materials with which I am working so that each composition is imbued with its own internal and unique logic.

Website
melbournecomposersleague.com
australianmusiccentre.com.au/artist/myers-peter

About RHAPSODY IN MOTION
It is my view that Australia must acknowledge its hidden history, genuinely reconcile with its indigenous people and atone for its hideous treatment of them in order for it to mature as a nation that can genuinely take pride in its achievements. Through my contribution to RHAPSODY IN MOTION, I have endeavored to draw attention to the differences between Aboriginal and western attitudes to this land, differences that are fundamental to the many cultural conflicts that have occurred since the white invasion of this country. It is my hope that all Australians can learn from their indigenous brothers and sisters that the land is sacred and must be respected and maintained for future generations.

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Myers has composed works on commission for the Elision Ensemble, the Pipeline Project, the Gruppo Bruno Maderna, the violinist Susan Pierotti, the Southbank Ensemble, and the Victorian College of the Arts Orchestra. His works have also been performed by members of the Japanese Chamber Orchestra, the Tokyo Sinfonietta, the Queensland Philharmonic, the Victorian State Orchestra, New Music Forum, the Coruscations Ensemble, the Australian String Quartet, the Black Quartet, the British Music Society of Victoria, the Melbourne University Orchestra, and the Band of the Third Military District. Myers’ works for solo instruments have been performed by Michael Kieran Harvey (piano), Bruce Petherick (piano), Christopher Redgate (oboe), Susan Pierotti (violin), Elizabeth Holowell (violin), Spiros Rantos (violin), Erkki Veltheim (viola), Ellen Mentiplay (violin) and others. He has been the recipient of a Commonwealth Postgraduate Research Scholarship (1984); a Melbourne University Research Scholarship (1997); the inaugural New Audience Award (1987); the Jacobena Angliss Award (1987); the Fellowship of Australian Composers’ Composition Award (1988); the Dorian Le Gallienne Award (1991); and several composer commission grants from the Australia Council, the Australian Government’s Arts funding and advisory body.

His works have been featured at several new music festivals including the 1988 ISCM World Music Days held in Hong Kong, the 1988 New Music and the Orchestra Composers’ Project held in Queensland, the 1992 Sendai Asian Music Festival held in Japan, and the 1995 Composers’ Forum on the String Quartet held in Adelaide with the Australian String Quartet. His composition entitled Whorls was recently selected for performance at Asian Music Week 2000 in Yokohama, Japan.

Myers has held teaching positions at La Trobe University, the University of Melbourne, Melbourne College of Adult Education and several secondary colleges in Melbourne.

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