Peter Golub began playing the piano when he was six. Alongside his interest in music, in high school he developed a passion for the theatre, forming a troupe with a group of classmates and directing and acting in adventurous plays (Pinter, Ionesco, Beckett). His interest in music and theatre led to his ongoing involvement in dramatic music as his career travels between film, theatre, and concert music.
He was an undergraduate at Bennington College, where he studied composition with Henry Brant, a pioneer in spatial music in the tradition of Charles Ives and a master orchestrator. (In addition to his huge catalogue of works, Brant orchestrated film scores by Alex North, including "A Streetcar Named Desire" and "Cleopatra"). His piano studies with Lionel Nowak led him both to traditional repertoire as well as 20th Century works. He continued his studies at the Yale School of Music where he studied composition with Toru Takemitsu and Jacob Druckman and earned a Doctorate. His work and friendship with Takemitsu, who in addition to his concert works was the composer of a large body of film work, was pivotal in his development and continues to be an inspiration.
After completing his studies at Yale, Golub began working in the theatre in New York, composing numerous scores and working with some of the giants of the downtown theatre scene. As a member of Joseph Chaikin's Winter Project, he collaborated on several productions at La Mama. He also began a ten-year creative partnership with Charles Ludlam, becoming composer-in-residence at Ludlam's legendary Ridiculous Theatrical Company and writing scores for such works as The Mystery of Irma Vep, Galas, Salammbo, and The Artificial Jungle. He and Ludlam wrote a dramatic scene for actor, mezzo-soprano and orchestra, The Production of Mysteries, which was performed by Lukas Foss and the Brooklyn Philharmonic. He also worked on numerous shows with Joseph Papp at the New York Shakespeare Festival, including Shakespeare in the Park productions of Twelfth Night (with Gregory Hines, Michelle Pfieffer and Jeff Goldblum) and Othello (with Raul Julia and Christopher Walken). His ongoing collaboration with writer/director Moises Kaufman, includes scores for Gross Indecency: The Three Trials of Oscar Wilde and The Laramie Project. He is a member of Kaufman's Tectonic Theater Project. He also worked with the noted performance artist Ethyl Eichelberger, composing and performing in Ariadne Obnoxious at the Joyce Theater.
Peter Golub taught composition at Bennington College and Reed College. Since 1998 he has been the Director of the Sundance Film Music Program, where he runs the yearly Composers Lab, an intensive workshop for aspiring film composers. He was awarded the Classic Contribution Award by BMI and a 2008 Vision Award. He is also the recipient of a Charles Ives Scholarship (given by the American Academy and Institute of Arts and Letters) as well as grants from the National Endowment of the Arts (Opera/Musical Theater Program), Meet-the-Composer, and New York Foundation for the Arts. He serves on the Board of the American Music Center.
(Biography dated 05/10/2018 )
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