Peter Evans is a trumpet player and composer based in New York City since 2003. Evans is part of a broad, hybridized scene of musical experimentation and his work cuts across a wide range of modern musical practices and traditions. Peter is committed to the simultaneously self-determining and collaborative nature of musical improvisation as a compositional tool, and works with an ever-expanding group of musicians and composers in the creation of new music.
His primary groups as a leader are the Peter Evans Ensemble (with Mazz Swift, Ron Stabinsky and Levy Lorenzo) and Being & Becoming (with Joel Ross, Nick Jozwiak and Savannah Harris). Evans has been exploring solo trumpet music since 2002 and is widely recognized as a leading voice in the field, having released 6 albums of solo music since 2006. He is also a member of several collaborative groups; duos with Levy Lorenzo and Sam Pluta, Rocket Science and Pulverize the Sound.
As a composer, he has been commissioned by the International Contemporary Ensemble (ICE), Wet Ink, Yarn/Wire, the Donaueschingen Musiktage Festival, the Jerome Foundation’s Emerging Artist Program, and the Doris Duke Foundation. Evans has presented and/or performed his works at major festivals worldwide and tours his own groups extensively.
As an educator, Evans has given masterclasses and conducted workshops on improvisation, composition, instrumental practice and creativity at the Juilliard School, Manhattan School of Music, the New School of Social Research, Royal Academy of Music, Trinity College of Music, Guildhall School of Music and Drama, Hochschule für Musik Köln, Royal Birmingham Conservatoire, Institute of Sonology, Melbourne University, UC San Diego, UC Irvine, University of Toronto, University of Oregon, Cornish College, Oberlin Conservatory, and Cleveland Institute of Music.
He has worked with some of the leading figures in contemporary music: John Zorn, Pauline Oliveros, Brian Ferneyhough, Kanye West, George Lewis, Anthony Braxton, Evan Parker, Mary Halvorson, Craig Taborn, Ambrose Akinmusere, Weasel Walter, Ingrid Laubrock, Jeff “Tain” Watts, Tyshawn Sorey, Jim Black, Ikue Mori, Steve Schick, and works with both the International Contemporary and Wet Ink Ensembles as a performer and composer. As an interpreter of notated concert music, Evans has performed works by Varese, Xenakis, Bach, Stravinsky, Elliott Carter, Sciarrino, Ferneyhough, Wagner, Stockhausen, and many more.
Peter Evans has been releasing recordings on his own label, More is More, since 2011, beginning with the highly acclaimed “Ghosts”. 2021 will bring the second recording by Being & Becoming, as well as an album of Christmas music with 3 pianos.
