Peter Michael Hamel

Hamel studied musical composition, psychology and sociology in Munich and Berlin with teachers including Günter Bialas and Carl Dahlhaus.

In 1978, his book Through Music to the Self[2] was published in English translation, obtaining wide circulation in Europe and the U.S.[3] Between 1997 and 2012, he was professor for composition at the Hochschule für Musik und Theater in Hamburg.

In 2007 Hamel's Of the Sound of Life for pianist Roger Woodward was published by Celestial Harmonies.

American minimalist composer Terry Riley has said: ...Peter's heart did not seem to be aligned alone with the post Webern traditions that had emerged so prevalently in Germany.

His sensibilities were attracted more to American minimalism and Indian music and to some degree Rock and Jazz.