Wayne Peterson

Wayne Peterson (September 3, 1927 – April 7, 2021) was an American composer, pianist, and educator. He won the Pulitzer Prize for Music for The Face of the Night, the Heart of the Dark in 1992, when its board overturned the jury's unanimous selection of Concerto Fantastique by Ralph Shapey.

Early life Peterson was born in Albert Lea, Minnesota, on September 3, 1927. He spoke of the musical heritage of his parents "My father, a victim of the Depression, bounced around from one thing to another. He wasn’t musical. My mother’s side of the family was." He developed a passion for reading at the age of seven, when he was confined to bed for several months due to scarlet fever. He learned the piano during his childhood. He was particularly drawn to jazz, and became a professional jazz musician when he was 15 years old.

Peterson obtained a Bachelor of Arts, Master of Arts, and Doctor of Philosophy at the University of Minnesota. He undertook advanced study on a Fulbright Scholarship at the Royal Academy of Music in London from 1953 to 1954.

Peterson admitted that he would have voted for Shapey's work had he been on the jury. He nonetheless accepted the prize.

Personal life Peterson's first marriage was to Harriet Christensen; they ultimately divorced. Together, they had four children: Alan, Drew, Craig, and Grant. He was in a domestic partnership with Ruth Knier for 42 years until her death in 2021, seven weeks before his own. Bright Reflections (2013) Full Circle brass quintet plus percussion: 1 player (2009) Trap Drum Fantasy for solo drum set (2008) Scherzo for flute, clarinet, violin, cello (2008) Rhapsody for Cello and Piano (1976) Encounters for eight players (1976) Diatribe violin and piano (1975) Capriccio flute and piano (1973) Spring (1970) Ceremony After a Fire Raid (1969, rev. 2001) Phantasmagoria for three players (1969) Clusters and Fragments (1968) Metamorphoses for wind quintet (1967) an ee cummings cantata chorus SATB/piano or SATB/ mixed ensemble of 8 players (1964) an ee cummings triptych (1962) Exaltation, Dithyramb and Caprice (1961) Psalm 56 (1959) Free Variations for orchestra (1958) premiered and recorded by Antal Doráti and the Minnesota Orchestra Three Songs (1957) Earth, Sweet Earth (1956) Can Death Be Sleep setting of John Keats for a cappella chorus, SATB (1955)

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