Please select one of the following subcategories
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General Comments
"A Symphony of Carols"
"Remembrances"
Chamber Music
Dr. Christian Tiemeyer, conductor:
"Peter Bloesch is a wonderful composer, arranger, and orchestrator. His music exhibits prodigious gifts of creativity, drama, and a flair for orchestration. His music has thrilled our audiences with its freshness and emotional power.
"In addition, our orchestra and chorus members have expressed unusual delight in performing his music. In fact, the high degree of enthusiasm for his music expressed by the performers themselves has been quite remarkable, and speaks well of Bloesch's ability not only to write well for the orchestra as a whole, but also his ability to write satisfying and engaging parts for each individual instrument. Masterful orchestration is a hallmark of his writing.
"I recommend the music of Peter Bloesch wholeheartedly. Your orchestra and your audience will be delighted if you perform it!"
— Dr. Christian Tiemeyer
former Music Director, Cedar Rapids Symphony Orchestra
Dr. Randal A. McChesney, choral conductor:
"Having conducted a number of Peter's works, I can attest to the fact that his choral writing is consistently outstanding and a delight to sing. Accessible and artistic, the works of Peter Bloesch deserve attention and frequent performance."
— Dr. Randal A. McChesney
Executive Director, Richards Institute of Education and Research; Past President, Choristers Guild Board of Directors; former Director, Cedar Rapids Concert Chorale
Richard P. Hoffman, choral conductor:
"Not content merely to write splendid choral music, Bloesch showed a mastery at orchestration, and the combined effect was dazzling. My choir was particularly impressed with Bloesch's choral writing and his thoughtful use of the voice."
— Richard P. Hoffman
Professor of Music Education and Choral Music, Coe College, Cedar Rapids, Iowa, and former Director, Cedar Rapids Concert Chorale
John Dowdall, Artistic Director of Red Cedar Chamber Music:
"I find Peter's chamber music totally engaging. His in-depth knowledge of the classical style of composition and his background as a Hollywood film score composer combine to give his music a freshness and energy that is intellectually satisfying and viscerally stimulating.
"As a guitarist, I am particularly appreciative of his ability to weave the guitar into the melodic and contrapuntal texture of a piece while retaining an ease of playability for the guitarist — not an easy task for any composer."
— John Dowdall
Guitarist and Artistic Director of Red Cedar Chamber Music
Robert Lindsey Nassif, Broadway composer:
"Peter, every year I love playing your CD of 'A Symphony of Carols.' It's my favorite holiday CD and really captures the magic and majesty of the season. Your arrangements are so creative, masterful, and imaginative, and always put me immediately in the holiday spirit!"
— Robert Lindsey Nassif
Award-winning Broadway composer and arranger of holiday music
Dr. Eldon Obrecht, Professor of Music Theory and Composition:
"Your composition, 'A Symphony of Carols,' is an impressive achievement. I appreciated the variety in both the length and technique of your transitions between carols. I appreciated, even envied, the skill of your vocal part-writing. Few composition students could do this. You have created an effective and well-crafted work. It should have a place in the standard choral repertoire."
— Dr. Eldon Obrecht
Retired Professor of Music Theory, Composition, and Double Bass at The University of Iowa
Dr. Gerhard Krapf, composer:
"Peter, I am most impressed by your composition, 'A Symphony of Carols,' and its wonderful 'rightness,' integrity, and sincerity. You have selected a beautiful sequence of carols, have mastered the formal challenge, and have embued the piece with a cohesive musical message - and all of this supported by your fine compositional technique, sense of color (beautiful scoring), and instrumentation. Congratulations!"
— Dr. Gerhard Krapf
Composer, Retired Professor of Organ, and Founder of the Organ Department at The University of Iowa
Doris Preucil, Founder of The Preucil School of Music and former President of the Sukuzi Association of the Americas:
“ 'Remembrances' is a piece for String Orchestra, Harp, and Piano, with optional melody parts for less advanced violins and violas. It is based on two melodies that evoke feelings of love and nostalgia — 'Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star' and Dvořák's 'Songs My Mother Taught Me.'
“The arrangement is creative and the scoring is rich. Mr. Bloesch knows how to write for strings most effectively and knows how to bring out maximum resonance. Performers and audiences alike are very moved by this piece, and I listen to it again and again.
"'Remembrances' was written for a concert featuring alumni and honoring my retirement as Director of the Preucil School of Music, a Suzuki-based institution with over 800 students. It is especially meaningful for those who have grown up in the Suzuki environment, since they began their musical journey with 'Twinkle' and parental help, but it is equally desirable and effective as a concert piece. I am most happy to recommend it."
— Doris Preucil
Founder and Director Emeritus, Preucil School of Music, and Former President of the Suzuki Association of the Americas
Clarisse Atcherson, Suzuki instructor and violinist with the Oregon Symphony:
" 'Remembrances' by Peter Bloesch is a favorite piece for my husband and me. We sit on the porch on summer evenings and listen to it over and over. There's something about the lush, full-string orchestration, enhanced by piano and harp, that makes it evoke deep feelings in the listener.
"Peter's use of introduction, transition, and coda is masterful. The piece flows from Dvořák's 'Songs my Mother Taught Me' into a magical, stately arrangement of 'Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star,' and ends with a grand flourish. I loved performing this piece and hope I will play it many more times. I highly recommend it to string ensembles."
— Clarisse Atcherson
Suzuki instructor, Past President of the Oregon Chapter of the American String Teachers Association and violinist with the Oregon Symphony since 1985
Jan Boland, Executive Director of Red Cedar Chamber Music:
"Peter Bloesch's 'Holiday Suite' is real crowd-pleaser! Peter has woven several beautiful holiday melodies into a charming Suite that entertains even the most sophisticated listener with its nod to classical forms."
— Jan Boland
Flutist and Executive Director of Red Cedar Chamber Music
John Dowdall, Artistic Director of Red Cedar Chamber Music:
"Peter Bloesch's music is exhilarating and fun! The variation he provided us for "Spillville Variations on a Theme by Dvořák" sparkles with a savory mix of Baroque fugal technique and a sense of Hollywood bravura and dramatic climax.
"Peter's ability to achieve a fullness of sound with the modest forces of flute, viola, and guitar — while also employing a broad palette of harmonic and contrapuntal elements — is really quite astonishing and totally satisfying!"
— John Dowdall
Guitarist and Artistic Director of Red Cedar Chamber Music
Gramophone Magazine:
"[The 'Spillville Variations' piece] has obviously struck a rich compositional vein. The composers gathered here rise to the occasion and do justice to both their honoree and their performers.
"From the respective canon and fugue of Peter Hamlin and Peter Bloesch to the dance inspirations of Lyle Dockendorff's 'Spillville Waltz,'... these miniatures balance distinctive gravitas with a certain lightness of touch.
"From beginning to end, this collection teases the ear but delivers the kind of musical pay-off that all light music should strive for."
— Ken Smith
Gramophone Magazine, September 2006
