Peter Hannan

Hannan, Peter

Hannan, Peter. Composer, recorder player, b Montreal 19 Mar 1953; B MUS (British Columbia) 1975, Certificate of Advanced Studies (GSM) 1978. He studied recorder 1979-80 with Kees Boeke at the Sweelinck Cons under a Netherlands government scholarship and lived 1984-5 in London. He has taught at the University of British Columbia, Simon Fraser University and Vancouver Community College but is primarily a freelance composer and performer.

Entirely self-taught as a composer, Hannan was a finalist in the 1980 CBC Radio Competition for Young Composers. He has been commissioned by many of Canada's leading new music ensembles and performers, including ARRAYMUSIC (Soft/Breakdown, 1986), Numus Concerts (Edge, 1989), Vancouver New Music Society(Passage, 1989), the Canadian Electronic Ensemble (System I, 1988), the New World Consort (Trinkets of Little Value, 1986) and Rivka Golani (RSRCH 11/87, 1987). Windows (1989) was commissioned by the Ijsbreker Concert Hall (Amsterdam) in 1988. His music is marked by a strong rhythmic vitality and shows the influence of the 'New Hague' School and especially of Dutch composer Louis Andriessen.

Hannan often has performed as soloist in his own works. Known internationally as a virtuoso interpreter of new music for recorder, he has toured extensively as a composer/performer throughout Canada, the USA, Germany, England, Holland, France, and Belgium under the auspices of the Canada Council and the Dept of External Affairs. His works have been recorded for radio by the CBC, WDR Köln, Radio Bremen, HR Frankfurt, Deutschland Funk, BRT Belgium, KRO and VPRO Holland. His book New Recorder: A Guide to New Music and Techniques (Moeck, Germany 1990) was written with the assistance of a Canada Council grant.

Hannan's compositional interests revolve around real time performances of electronic MIDI instruments and especially the MIDI wind controller with which he often performs. Part of this interest has been an exploration of alternative tuning systems as seen in works such as his Harmonia (7 pieces on the ancient greek harmoniae, 1990). Hannan also continues to be an active performer of early music and was a member 1982-90 of the New World Consort. Other members of the consort include Suzie LeBlanc, soprano, Ray Nurse, lute, and Nan Mackie, viols. Hannan is an associate of the Canadian Music Centre, and a member of the CLComp and the Canadian Electroacoustic Community.