Multi-platinum
selling pianist/composer, Peter Kater, has recently received his 3rd Grammy
Nomination in the last 4 years, this time for his CD entitled "FIRE" on the Real
Music label. He has written
the music for over 100 television and film programs including eleven On and
Off-Broadway dramatic plays. His more than 40 critically acclaimed CD
releases in 25 years range from Contemporary Jazz, World Fusion and
Native American collaborations to full orchestrations and of course, his
signature solo piano recordings. His PIANO recording
was Nominated for the "Best New Age Album" 2005 Grammy Award
and his RED MOON CD was Grammy Nominated in 2004.
Receiving extensive world-wide airplay on a diverse array of radio formats,
Kater’s broad creative stroke has touched millions of hearts. In addition,
because of his commitment and dedication to the environment and humanitarian
causes, Peter was honored with the Environmental Leadership Award
by the United Nations and performs over 50 concerts each year.
In addition
to his three recent Grammy Award Nominations Kater has been nominated
seven times for the Indie "Best New Age Album" award,
winning the award in 1992 for his critically acclaimed album, Migration,
with Native American flutist R. Carlos Nakai. He also
contributed two songs to the acclaimed SACRED SPIRIT recording
which sold over 5 million CDs. The majority of his albums have
appeared in the Top 10 of National Airplay charts and in the Top 20 of
Billboard’s New Age and Contemporary Jazz charts
Peter has also recently
finished the score to the film "10 Questions for the Dalai Lama".
The film is currently winning awards at film festivals around the world
(www.10questionsforthedalailama.com) and is expecting a major national release
in 2007. Over the last few years Peter has written the music for several short
films and was heard in the NBC broadcast of the 2000 &
2004 Summer Olympics; he collaborated with Kenny Loggins
on his December CD and performed at Carnegie Hall
in New York City.
In addition to scoring for
television, video and film projects, Kater has written the music for various
award winning Broadway and Off-Broadway dramatic plays. He has collaborated with
legendary director Marshall Mason; Pulitzer Prize winning
playwright, Lanford Wilson; and actors including John
Malkovich, Jon Voight, Ethan Hawke, Tyne Daly, Tony Randall, Joan Allen,
Christopher Reeve, Jennifer Jason-Leigh, Judd Hirsch, Laura Linney and
Christine Lahti to name a few. Also, through repeated
invitations to perform at various exclusive events at Robert Redford’s
Sundance Institute and John Denver’s Choices for
the Future and countless environmental and humanitarian symposiums
around the world, Kater has had the honor of performing for celebrities and
dignitaries such as Mikhail Gorbachev, George Bush, Thich Nhat Hanh,
Gerald Ford, Ted Turner, Shirley Maclaine, Dustin Hoffman, Sean Connery, Sidney
Pollack, Alan Alda, Bill Murray, Chevy Chase, Dennis Weaver, Griffin Dunne, Raul
Julia, Karl Malden, Laura Dern, James L. Brooks and many others.
Of
German birth and descent, Peter moved to New Jersey from Munich, Germany at the
age of four and began studying the piano, at his mother’s demand, when he was
seven. Seven years of classical training led into playing Rock & Roll and Top 40
bands around New Jersey and New York while studying contemporary improvisation.
Moving to Boulder, Colorado at the age of eighteen, he began a six-year period
of playing only improvisationally in clubs throughout the Rocky Mountain region.
“I didn’t want to play anything the same way twice, being in the moment and
spontaneous was very important to me, both musically and personally”, said
Kater. When he was twenty years old he accepted a scholarship to the California
Institute of the Arts in Los Angeles but quit after two months, preferring his
life as a professional musician.
When Kater realized that his
next step was composing and recording his music, he moved back to Colorado “to a
less external, more inspiring natural environment” and released his first album
of piano solos, SPIRIT, in 1983. To his surprise his albums started receiving
national attention and charting in the Top 10. Other opportunites started coming
his way in the form of phone calls from various television and theatre directors
and producers and Kater started to branch out and explore many avenues of
creative expression and composition. Since then he's recorded and performed
nationally and internationally with some of the worlds most talented and
accomplished musicians, actors, directors and authors. Currently Peter lives in
Southern California enjoying the climate, lifestyle and the incredible resource
of talent and creative opportunities that exist there.
Multi-platinum
selling pianist/composer, Peter Kater, has recently received his 3rd Grammy
Nomination in the last 4 years, this time for his CD entitled "FIRE" on the Real
Music label. He has written
the music for over 100 television and film programs including eleven On and
Off-Broadway dramatic plays. His more than 40 critically acclaimed CD
releases in 25 years range from Contemporary Jazz, World Fusion and
Native American collaborations to full orchestrations and of course, his
signature solo piano recordings. His PIANO recording
was Nominated for the "Best New Age Album" 2005 Grammy Award
and his RED MOON CD was Grammy Nominated in 2004.
Receiving extensive world-wide airplay on a diverse array of radio formats,
Kater’s broad creative stroke has touched millions of hearts. In addition,
because of his commitment and dedication to the environment and humanitarian
causes, Peter was honored with the Environmental Leadership Award
by the United Nations and performs over 50 concerts each year.
Of
German birth and descent, Peter moved to New Jersey from Munich, Germany at the
age of four and began studying the piano, at his mother’s demand, when he was
seven. Seven years of classical training led into playing Rock & Roll and Top 40
bands around New Jersey and New York while studying contemporary improvisation.
Moving to Boulder, Colorado at the age of eighteen, he began a six-year period
of playing only improvisationally in clubs throughout the Rocky Mountain region.
“I didn’t want to play anything the same way twice, being in the moment and
spontaneous was very important to me, both musically and personally”, said
Kater. When he was twenty years old he accepted a scholarship to the California
Institute of the Arts in Los Angeles but quit after two months, preferring his
life as a professional musician.
