Peter's album Live at the Club Passim Open Mike Night is available on Itunes, Rhapsody.com, Amazon.com, and CdBaby.com
Every time Peter Neuendorffer plays the piano, the world changes. He writes songs too, magical things, and performs them to our wonder. Everything musical he does seems to carry not only a deep emotional resonance, instantly recognizable to us all, but also an irresistible appeal straight up from the roots, across centuries.
Some of this is due to Peter’s history. Since he picked out tunes on a church piano when he was seven, he has pursued harmony and dissonance and melody all across the synesthetic spectrum. At the New England Conservatory, he would wander the halls looking for unlocked rooms with pianos in them, or just stand still and savor the cacophony of practice.
He knows music. All sorts of big territories are there—Bach, Coltrane, Leonard Bernstein, Kurt Weill, Lennon/McCartney, Gershwin, Dylan, Andrew Lloyd Webber, Randy Newman, to list a few—as well as the blues, cabaret, American gospel, “folk” ballads. He will play us a bit of Nino Rota’s music from a Fellini film, and then surprise us with Jefferson Airplane. And then he’ll “improvise”—in quotes because it’s a miracle.
When he sings his own songs—with titles like “Sulwar” or “Termilee,” about things like television, Mars, freedom, credit cards, isolation—he evokes subtle and mysterious life experiences like a filmmaker or novelist would. He has even written an entire musical show.
Other historical markers in Peter’s neverending quest include the lead in Menotti’s Christmas opera Amahl and the Night Visitors (when he was eight), a “seat-of-the-pants” summer stock theater in Maine where they put on a different musical every week (he was Jud in Oklahoma when he was sixteen), performances with an orchestra, and a stint with the jazz group the Mark Harvey Octet, with whom he played live on Boston University radio.
Peter Neuendorffer’s music captivates all who listen to him. He’s been hooked on open mikes for ten years. He can be heard often at local open mikes—Club Passim in Cambridge, the Center for the Arts in Natick, Amazing Things in Framingham, and the King Hooper Mansion in Marblehead. He occasionally performs feature sets at those and other venues.
Its good to see you're out there performing. There's nothing like live music, and even better, nothing like a piano being driven by a gifted artist. Keep up the great work!
Peter, Thank you for responding! Mazurka...very well played. Chopin is very proud of you and himself for composing such a beautiful piece. I really like your tracks...very nice, natural sound. Our debut cd "Condom Nation" has just been released. Please stop by, have a listen and say hello. And remember...keep it up...rock hard...and always wear your condom onstage!!
