Peter Boyer

Peter Boyer (born February 10, 1970, in Providence, Rhode Island) is an American composer, conductor, orchestrator, and professor of music, based in Altadena, in the San Gabriel foothills just north of Los Angeles, California.

Boyer then studied privately with composer John Corigliano in New York, before relocating to Los Angeles to attend the Scoring for Motion Pictures and Television Program at the USC Thornton School of Music.

On completing his studies in 1996, Boyer was appointed to the faculty of Claremont Graduate University, and in 1999 he was named the first recipient of its Helen M. Smith Chair in Music.

[6],[7] In April 2010, the Boston Pops announced the participation of Hollywood actors Robert De Niro, Morgan Freeman, and Ed Harris as the narrators for Boyer's work.

Naxos released this recording in 2014 to positive reviews: "Boyer writes in a fluent, powerful style that fuses conservative American currents with Hollywood-ish size and populist sentiment.

[16] These Ellis Island performances received critical acclaim in the Los Angeles Times[17] and Orange County Register, which stated, "Boyer writes in an accessible style… which at its best is warm, attractive, emotionally persuasive and expertly crafted.

"[18] The PBS Great Performances national television debut of Ellis Island: The Dream of America with Pacific Symphony took place on June 29, 2018.

[21] The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts commissioned Boyer’s Balance of Power for the National Symphony Orchestra’s 90th anniversary season in 2020-2021.

[24][25] In July 2022, Naxos released Boyer’s album Balance of Power – Orchestral Works, with the composer conducting the London Symphony Orchestra.