Peter O'Gorman is a composer, drummer/percussionist, author,
and teacher. His music engages listeners on multiple levels. His
compositions are emotional, physical, visceral, cerebral, and kinetic.

Peter O'Gorman is a composer, drummer/percussionist, author and teacher. His compositions have been performed by Steven Schick and the Bang on a Can All-Stars, Amy Knoles of the California Ear Unit, New York percussion quartet Ethos and numerous other performers throughout the U.S. and abroad.

As a performer, Peter has worked with such luminary composers as: Henry Brant, Irwin Bazalon, Mary Ellen Childs, William Kraft, Libby Larsen, Frederic Rzewski, John Zorn, and many others.

Peter has also performed as a soloist and as an ensemble member with a multitude of very diverse musical groups. As an original member of Mary Ellen Childs' CRASH, he has been able to develop his deep interest in combining sound, movement, theater and visual image.

Performing highlights include: Bang on a Can Festival (NYC), Other Minds Festival (San Francisco), Percussive Arts Society International Convention (Phoenix), Present Music Concert Series (Milwaukee), Southeastern Center for Contemporary Arts Concert Series (Winston-Salem, NC), New Directions in Performance Series (Duke University), International Jazz, Dance and Music Festival (St. Petersburg, Russia), Art of Movement Festival (Yaroslavl, Russia) and numerous other high profile events.

In addition to his compositions, Peter's publications include a variety of articles on drumming and two critically acclaimed drumset method books, Drum Sessions, Books 1 & 2. He is also the former president of the Minnesota Chapter of the Percussive Arts Society.

Peter's latest work, Trines, for solo percussion and dance, was recently premiered by Joe Chvala and the Flying Foot Forum. Currently, Peter is working on a second commission for the Flying Foot Forum for which he was awarded a Jerome Composers Commissioning Program grant.

Over the past 30 years, what began as an interest in drumming has grown to include a wide array of percussive instruments, ideas and musical forms. As a player, I have performed in a multitude of musical styles including new music, orchestral and chamber music, opera, jazz, rock, world beat, vocal percussion and theater as well as music that defies categorization. I've had the opportunity to work with numerous composers including Irwin Bazelon, Henry Brant, Mary Ellen Childs, William Kraft, Libby Larsen, Frederic Rzewski, and John Zorn. As a composer, I bring this experience forward and feel driven to create music that moves listeners emotionally, physically, and intellectually.

An important artistic influence has been my extensive work with Mary Ellen Childs' CRASH. Over the past 16 years, I have had the unique opportunity to contribute to many pieces that explore visual elements within composition. This has provided a rich opportunity to experiment with composition as it relates to physical movement, staging as well as visual and sonic effect.

These many years of collective collaboration have inspired me and compel me to fulfill my own visions as a composer and to create works that are more personal and driven by my unique interests in unusual musical forms, instruments, sounds, images and compositional approaches. I am very interested in creating music that is original, engaging and surprising and which employs unusual combinations of acoustically produced sounds. My work as a composer has included pieces for percussion, voices, chamber ensembles and rhythm sections.

Improvisation has grown to be an integral part of who I am as a performer and a composer. I often use improvisation to develop material for compositions. I have also extensively performed improvisations as both a soloist and ensemble member.