Peck, Russell - Biography Russell Peck's music reflects a wide range of musical interests, spanning the diverse roles that the symphony orchestra is asked to fulfill in today's society. His Signs of Life for string orchestra was premiered in 1984 by the Milwaukee Symphony and has been performed by many orchestras throughout the United States and Europe. The Thrill of the Orchestra, a demonstration piece for young people commissioned by the Florida Symphony in 1985, is receiving hundreds of performances by dozens of orchestras nationwide, and has been released in a video production featuring the Royal Philharmonic of London. The Upward Stream (1985), a concerto for Tenor Saxophone and Orchestra, was reviewed in Spectator Magazine as "one of the most outstanding experiences I've had in a decade of reviewing", and received standing ovations in Warsaw, Berlin, and other cities on a European tour. Recent works by Mr. Peck include a trumpet concerto commissioned by Doc Severinsen, a percussion concerto commissioned for Percussion Group Cincinnati, Peace Overture commissioned by the Birmingham International Festival for the Alabama Symphony and subsequently performed in Kennedy Center, and Amber Waves written for the Nebraska Chamber Orchestra and Spokane Symphony. Albany Records will release a CD of four of Mr. Peck's orchestral works in early 1991. Russell Peck (born Detroit, 1945) is a magna cum laude graduate of the University of Michigan (1966), where he also received Master and Doctoral degrees in composition (1967 and 1972). His teachers have included Clark Eastham, Leslie Bassett, Ross Lee Finney, Gunther Schuller, and George Rochberg - the latter two through Margaret Crofts Fellowships for study at Tanglewood Music Center. Among the honors Mr. Peck has received are the Koussevitsky Prize, two Ford Foundation Fellowships, grants from the National Endowment for the Arts and several states' arts councils, annual ASCAP awards, and commissions from major symphony orchestras. Artist residencies have included a position as guest composer at the Gaudeamus Contemporary Music Festival in the Netherlands, and a two year appointment as composer-in-residence with the Indianapolis Symphony (1971-73). Mr. Peck has also served on the faculty of Northern Illinois University, Eastman School of Music, and the North Carolina School of the Arts. He is a member of ASCAP and his music is published by E.B.Marks, Carl Fisher, Editions Jobert, Pecktackular Music, and others; recordings of his music are available on Finnedar-Atlantic, Opus One, Advance, and C.R.I. In addition to his composing activity, Mr. Peck also performs extensively as narrator of his own orchestral works for young audiences, and has appeared as guest artist with the Detroit, Milwaukee, Buffalo, New Orleans, and Cincinnati Symphonies, and many others.