Peter Saltzman

As a composer, singer and pianist, Peter Saltzman has been leading a variety of Chicago-based ensembles since the late 1980’s. These include the Peter Zak Band (his erstwhile stage name), which exclusively performed Saltzman’s pop songs, and released an album, “Songs From Two States” of those in 1988; The Revolution Ensemble, a mixed jazz-classical group of varying sizes (3 to 30) which performed everything from Saltzman’s hybrid orchestral works to chamber jazz, and released the critically acclaimed CD “Kabbalah Blues/Quantum Funk” in 2000; and most recently the Peter Saltzman Band, which performs a combination of jazz-pop Saltzman originals along with provocative renditions of everything from Irving Berlin to Bob Dylan, and released the CD “Things Better Left Said” in 2003.

Saltzman, who studied Jazz at Indiana University (Bloomington) and composition at Eastman School of Music, has also composed for wide variety of mediums, including orchestra, chorus, film, dance, opera, chamber music and solo piano—along with song. His compositions have been performed and recorded internationally by groups as diverse as the Czech National Philharmonic Orchestra, Chicago a cappella and Dallas Black Dance Theatre. He recently composed the score for Eric Forsberg’s feature film “Alien Abduction” (2005, Asylum). Oxford University Press publishes many of his choral, vocal and piano works. Saltzman is the recipient of numerous awards, grants and commissions, including an ASCAP composer’s prize and an Illinois Arts Council Fellowship grant.
   
Saltzman’s music has been called “ambitious, richly layered, wonderfully” (Chicago Tribune), “Distinctive...memorable...” (Chicago Sun-Times), and “powerful stuff” (Dallas Morning News)