From 1950 to 1956 he attended Princeton University for both undergraduate and graduate training in musical composition, studying with Edward T. Cone and Roger Sessions, and was awarded a Woodrow Wilson National Fellowship.
[1] From 1958 through 1961 Peyton, along with Edward T. Cone and William Carlin, initiated a series of contemporary chamber music concerts in New York presenting many new works.
In 1995, he conducted the premiere of Robert Ceely's Automobile Graveyard, a full-length opera staged in Jordan Hall.
He received an honorary doctorate from New England Conservatory in 2016, recognizing his 50 years on the NEC faculty.
His works are published by Boelke-Bomart/Mobart and the Association for the Promotion of New Music, and recorded on the CRI and Centaur labels.