Peter Donohoe was born in Manchester, England, and educated at Chetham's School of Music where he studied violin, viola, clarinet and tuba.
[1] Donald Clarke recommended that Donohoe do an audition at the age of 14 at the Royal Manchester College of Music, as a result, professor Derek Wyndham insisted on taking him as his youngest student.
Donohoe continued to work with Wyndham throughout the rest of his schooldays, and then went on to study music with Alexander Goehr at the University of Leeds.
Later he returned to Manchester to continue working at the Royal Northern College of Music with Professor Wyndham, graduating in 1976 as BMus with first class honours in both piano and percussion as both teacher and performer.
During his student years he also studied percussion playing with Jack Gledhill – then timpanist with the Hallé – and Gilbert Webster, who had been Principal Percussionist with the BBC Symphony Orchestra, who encouraged his exploration of other disciplines, including the cimbalom, jazz improvisation on the vibraphone, and rock drumming.
[2] During his student years at the Royal Northern College of Music he had also studied with Vlado Perlemuter, Sir William Glock, Roger Woodward, Charles Rosen and Sequeira Costa.
One year later, in July 1982, he won the Joint Silver Medal at the International Tchaikovsky Competition in Moscow – then in the Soviet Union.
His first significant break with professional orchestras was a result of his regular work as keyboard player with the Hallé, including many performances of the piano part of Stravinsky's Petrushka.
[7] Donohoe exclusively signed with EMI Records in 1988, beginning a relationship that lasted until 1993, producing a major collection of CDs.