Peter Hazzard

Peter Hazzard was born in Poughkeepsie, NY on January 31, 1949. He wrote his first compositions, The Horses’ Hooves and Evening Song, for violin and piano at theage of eight. He played violin, studying in NewYork with Arlie Furman, and was a member of the New York Young People’s Orchestra. He also played guitar and piano in both orchestras and dance bands throughout his youth. After graduation from Millbrook School and two years of study at Boston University, Mr. Hazzard enrolled at the Berklee College of Music in 1968, receiving his Bachelor of Music in Composition in 1971. He studied composition with John Bavicchi and William Maloof and conducting with Jeronimus Kascinskas . Upon graduation,Mr. Hazzard was appointed to the Berklee faculty where he taught composition, conducting, theory, and music history and served as the chair of the Traditional Studies Department. He became conductor of the Berklee Concert Wind Ensemble in 1976. In 1983, Mr. Hazzard was appointed to the faculty of Lawrence Academy in Groton, MA where he served as both Director of Music and Choral Director retiring in 2013. In 2016 he was coaxed out of retirement and served for four years as Director of Music at Granite State Arts Academy, a small charter high school for the arts in Salem , NH. He retired in January of 2020 after 50 years as a music educator. Over the last fifty-plus years he has built up a catalog of more than eighty works and he has produced several hundred arrangements. He is a composer who understands his performers and their scope and his compositions range from those for student musicians to virtuoso professionals. He has written for symphony orchestra, concert band, brass ensemble, piano duet, unaccompanied clarinet, clarinet and marimba, saxophone quartet, chorus, and percussion ensembles to mention just a few. You will find more information on Mr. Hazzard on his website at www.peterhazzard.com. Mr. Hazzard's compositions published by BKJ and several other publishers are sold by J W Pepper, Sheet Music Plus and Subito Music Online. There are direct links to each piece on this page.