Erik Peterson, viola

Violist Erik Christian Peterson explores multiple areas of interest including musicology, technology, aesthetics, and education.  He started playing viola at age ten in his native Chicago and has since performed on the world's leading stages.  With Voxare, Dr. Peterson has performed as soloist the New York Philharmonic and received Chamber Music America's ASCAP Award for Adventurous Programming. He has become a leading advocate for contemporary art music, premiering and recording numerous works by living composers. As an orchestral musician, Dr. Peterson has performed with the Cleveland Orchestra, and the Milwaukee and New World Symphonies. With wife Emily Ondracek-Peterson, Dr. Peterson was named Co-Artistic Director of the Crested Butte Music Festival. 

As a musicologist and theorist, Dr. Peterson’s full lecture schedule includes appearances at Princeton University, the British Library, and New York University, among others. He is currently on the musicology faculty at MSU Denver, splitting his time between Denver and New York City. Academic areas of interest include the composer Paul Hindemith, twentieth / twenty-first century music, and music aesthetics. 

Dr. Peterson works in technology as a recording engineer, producer, and editor.  He soon will be launching a new record label featuring cutting edge technology in the music's recording, editing, and distribution. Dr. Peterson employs technology to progress learning in arts education; as a founding member of Noted Endeavors with Eugenia Zukerman and Emily Ondracek-Peterson he creates video content that helps emerging musicians to develop sustainable successful careers in the arts.  Additionally, Dr. Peterson works with arts organizations and educational institutions in researching both educational and marketing strategies, for which he then provides video content along with web and graphic design.  

Outside of the musical and academic realms, Dr. Peterson is a serious photographer whose works have appeared in The New York Times and other leading publications. Favorite leisure activities include skiing, tennis, fly fishing, and cooking. 

Dr. Peterson received his Bachelor’s degree from the Juilliard School, where he studied with Heidi Castleman and Misha Amory, and his Master’s and Doctoral degrees from the Cleveland Institute of Music and Case Western Reserve University, where he studied with Stanley Konopka. Additionally, he studied astronomy at Columbia University. Dr. Peterson plays on a viola made by Franz Kinberg. 

Erik's personal website: violaland.com