Violin
Peter received his undergraduate degree from Moscow State Tchaikovsky Conservatory. He then went on to receive two Graduate Performance Diplomas from the Peabody Institute at Johns Hopkins University, one in a Violin Performance and one in Chamber Music.
As a Performer
Described by the Washington Post as “stylistically refined” “electrifying” and “brilliant,” Peter has performed extensively as a chamber musician, soloist, and concertmaster since his debut at the age 14 performing Paganini’s First Violin Concerto with the Kharkiv Philharmonic in his native Ukraine.
In 1997, Peter founded the Mendelssohn Piano Trio with his wife, pianist Ya-Ting Chang. Together, they have performed over five hundred concerts in the US, Europe, and Asia, were featured on NPR’s Performance Today and WETA’s Front Row Washington, and have recorded fifteen CDs, including the complete Haydn Piano Trios on Centaur Records. Peter has collaborated in performance with pianists Ann Schein, Igor Zhukov, Alexei Lubimov, violinists Alexander Kerr and Earl Carlyss, former Juilliard String Quartet member, cellist Natalia Gutman, flutist Claudi Arimany, oboist Gerard Reuter, harpsichordist Arthur Haas, guitarist Jason Vieaux and members of the Jasper, Jupiter, Daedalus, Parker, Avalon, Miro, and Fry Street quartets.
In 2012, the Mendelssohn Piano Trio gave the world premiere of Ching-Ju Shih double concerto for violin, piano, and orchestra at the National Concert Hall in Taipei, Taiwan. Recently, Peter appeared as a soloist with the Harrisburg Symphony Orchestra, Gettysburg Chamber Orchestra, American Youth Philharmonic, and Baltimore Chamber Orchestra.
As concertmaster, Peter’s performances range from Arlo Guthrie Annual Thanksgiving Concert in Carnegie Hall, Kennedy Center, and Verizon Hall to performances of the Verdi Requiem, Bach’s St. John Passion, and Beethoven’s Missa Solemnis with the Cathedral Choral Society in the National Cathedral in Washington, DC. He is currently Concertmaster of the Harrisburg Symphony Orchestra and Co-Director of Market Square Concerts in Harrisburg, PA.
As a Teacher
In addition to active performing schedule, Peter has been teaching privately for 25 years. While many of his students won competitions and continued to pursue music professionally in conservatories like Eastman and Juilliard, the most rewarding parts of teaching for him continue to be a deep personal connection to students and the impact of music on their lives. Since 2002, Peter has been an artist-in-residence at Messiah University where he co-founded and has continued to direct a summer chamber music and composition program for young musicians for 13 years. He has served on faculty at Shenandoah Conservatory, has given masterclasses in the US and abroad, and has served as an adjudicator in competitions. Together with long-time chamber music partner, Dr. Michael Stepniak, Dean of the Shenandoah Conservatory, Peter has co-authored a book on the future music training in higher education recently published by Routledge Press and College Music Society titled Beyond the Conservatory Model: Reimagining Classical Music Performance Training in Higher Education.
At Levine
Peter joined Levine’s violin faculty in 2024.
More About Peter
Learn more about Peter on his website.