Peter Constant is an Australian guitarist, conductor and pedagogue. Next to a varied performing career Peter is currenty co-Artistic Director of The Guitar Orchestra Foundation of The Netherlands (Stichting Gitaarorkest Nederland).
Peter was ‘most outstanding graduate’ of Canberra School of Music (Australian National University) and a Masters graduate of Yale University, having been awarded the prestigious Harkness Fellowship (Commonwealth Fund, NY), and also named a Fellow of Trinity College of Music London. From 1993-98 Peter was Lecturer in Guitar at the Victorian College of the Arts, Melbourne University, before moving to The Netherlands.
Peter has collaborated with a diverse array of performers and composers, premiered many new works, and recorded more than a dozen albums. His solo CD A Sympathetic Resonance was reviewed by Soundboard magazine as “totally in command of the material, displaying a comprehensive palette of expression and colour”. As a founding member of the innovative quartet Guitar Trek, he performed in many major venues throughout Australia, Asia and America for Musica Viva and The D’addario Foundation. Together with Dutch guitarist Marion Schaap, Peter built an international reputation with the beloved ‘Z.o.o. guitar duo’, described in Classical Guitar magazine as “premiere league quality... effortless musicianship and wonderful technique”. Z.o.o. albums include the 2-part Inventions of J.S. Bach on requinto and baritone guitars, and the premiere recording of Sofia Gubaidulina's monumental 'Repentance' recorded in the presence of the composer.
From a musical career distinguished by innovation and collaboration has emerged Peter’s occupation with large guitar ensembles in recent years. He has conducted both the European Youth Guitar Ensemble and the Netherlands Youth Guitar Orchestra, an elite ensemble of young professionals whose guest soloists have included guitar ‘legend’ Pepe Romero. He has worked with JGO Baden-Württenberg, Zürich Guitar Ensemble, Riverside Ensemble, with recent foreign residencies at USCSC and Queensland University. Peter conducted an orchestra of 1,000 guitarists in the Olympic Stadium, Berlin, during the World Culture Festival 2011 and is the driving force behind developing the ‘gitaarspektakel’ phenomenon currently affiliated with the Bridge Guitar Festival (Muziekgebouw Eindhoven), providing a platform for hundreds of young guitarists to develop their skills and love for the guitar.