Peter Van Zandt Lane (b. 1985) is an established, widely performed composer and bassoonist living in New England, and has written music for a variety of ensembles across the country and beyond. His instrumental music, in particular, often engages technology and its influence on art music in the 20th and 21st centuries through the use of live electronics and/or fixed-media. Drawing inspiration from neo-classical, modernist, jazz, rock, electronica, and early music, he draws on his diverse experiences to compose music that is fresh, genuine, and engaging. His music has been characterized by its "propulsive rhythms" and "surprising lyricism" (Boston Musical Intelligencer), hailed for its ability to appeal to musicians and audiences "no matter their personal musical aesthetic" (Asymmetry Music Magazine). Peter's music is often high-energy and dramatic, using a uniquely polyamorous harmonic language. His overarching compositional aims are to write music that conveys an inspired musical narrative, stretches the virtuosic abilities of performers, challenges listener expectations, and most of all, unite enthusiastic musicians in the positive, collaborative spirit of performance.

Peter has received recent commissions from the Barlow Endowment for Music Composition, the Wellesley Composers Conference and Chamber Music Center, Dinosaur Annex Music Ensemble, EAR Duo, and the SUNY Purchase Percussion Ensemble. His compositions have been performed across the United States, as well as in Europe and South America by acclaimed musicians and ensembles such as The Cleveland Orchestra, International Contemporary Ensemble, Triton Brass, Xanthos Ensemble, East Coast Composers Ensemble, SIGNAL, NotaRiotous, The Quux Collective, Freon Ensemble (Rome), and the New York Virtuoso Singers. Twice a finalist for the SEAMUS/ASCAP Commission, Peter has been recognized by numerous awards and prizes, and has been a featured composer at some of the country's finest electronic and contemporary music festivals and venues, including Spark Festival, SEAMUS National Conferences, SARC at Queen's University (Belfast), LIPM/IEMS (Buenos Aires), Forecast Music, New Gallery Concert Series, 12-Nights Electronic Music and Art, New York City Electroacoustic Music Festival, The Annual Festival of Contemporary Music (San Francisco), Boston Cyber-Arts Festival, Leonard Bernstein Festival of the Arts, and Festival Miami. He has had recordings commercially released on PARMA/Navona Records.

An avid advocate for new music, Peter has been involved in multiple contemporary music organizations in New England. He was a member of Composers in Red Sneakers, one of the nation's longest established composers' consortiums, and is currently General Manager of Dinosaur Annex Music Ensemble, a leading exponent of contemporary performance since 1975. He also contributes concert reviews regularly to the Boston Musical Intelligencer (www.classical-scene.org). He is also engaged in the commissioning of new works for bassoon in an electroacoustic setting, including recent works by Ferdinando Desena and Michael Gordon. He has been featured as a soloist at the world renowned Teatro Colón in Buenos Aires, and across the nation at a large number of music festivals and concert series.

Peter is currently completing a PhD in Music Composition and Theory at Brandeis University, and holds degrees from Brandeis, and the University of Miami Frost School of Music. He studied composition with Melinda Wagner, Eric Chasalow, and David Rakowsi, and bassoon with Luciano Magnanini.


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