Peter Gilbert's work combines traditional instrumental writing with elements of improvisation, live-performed electronics, and other media. His music, whether in multi-media theater, film, installation or a traditional concert, thrives on the act and art of collaboration. He writes: "My music usually aspires to create a sonic architecture that helps us lose our sense of time completely and allows us to partake in a kind of more direct aural experience. Counterpoint, whether medieval or romantic, is another vital part of my musical self and so such melodic/harmonic/rhythmic entities may also float through the sound environment or perhaps the sound environment is lingering in clouds behind contrapuntal floes. Either way, I love the feeling of being enveloped in a musical experience. I search for musical moments that can conjure up secret passageways to transcendence—that we performers, collaborators, listeners can conjure together."
He has held artist residencies in Europe and the US at institutions like the ZKM | Institut für Akustik und Musik (Germany), the Aaron Copland House, Akademie Schloss Solitude (Germany), IMEB Bourges (France), La Mortella (Italy), and been in residence at festivals such as the Tage Aktueller Musik Nürnberg (Germany) and the Newburyport Chamber Music Festival. Gilbert has been a composer-in-residence or guest speaker at many schools such as University of California-Berkeley, Staatliche Hochschule für Musik Trossingen, University of Miami, Conservatorio Piccinni di Bari (Italy), University of Glasgow, Brandeis University, Northern Arizona University, University of Mary Washington, Illinois Wesleyan University, and University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point.
Gilbert’s music has been included in music festivals and conferences around the world including the ICMC International Conference, Darmstadt Ferienkurse, Society of Composers (SCI) National Conference, SEAMUS National Conference, Electronic Music Midwest, Nuova Consonanza Festival, Muestra de Musica Visual México, Global Composition World Soundscape Conference, Chamber Music Campagna (Italy), Balance-Unbalance International Conference (Australia), STREAMS International Music Festival, New Music Miami ISCM Festival, New Music & Art Festival Bowling Green, Florida State Univ. Festival of New Music, Third Practice Music Festival, Look & Listen Festival, Western Illinois New Music Festival, AugustArt Festival NYC. He was also a Co-host of the 2019 SCI National Conference which included works by over 50 guest composers. He has been a Musical Director of the John Donald Robb Composers’ Symposium at the University of New Mexico since 2013.
Gilbert has written works for renowned soloists such as Emanuele Arciuli, Daniel Lippel, Mario Caroli, Richard White, Jeremias Schwarzer, Camilla Hoitenga, Magdalena Meitzner, Martin Tchiba, Michael Veit, Stephen Porter, Monica Robescu, Jeb Wallace, Michael Walker, Philipp Stäudlin, Michael Norsworthy, Carson Cooman, and Terry Everson.
Gilbert has also collaborated with outstanding ensembles such as Klangforum Heidelberg, Arditti Quartet, Lorelei Ensemble, Bang on a Can All-Stars, Ekmeles, Boston Conservatory Wind Ensemble, Soli Fan Tutti (Staatstheater Darmstadt), New Mexico Winds, Iridium Quartet, Pianarmonio, Silver Reed Duo, and FretX. He has alos been performed by Sonic Art Quartet, Splice Ensemble, counter(induction, One World Symphony, Red Light New Music, SO Percussion, New Thread Saxophone Quartet, Forward Motion, Peabody Camerata, Verspiel New Music, as well as numerous university wind ensembles and percussion ensembles. Gilbert is also committed to writing music for local ensembles that support young musicians such as the Albuquerque Junior Symphony, the UNM Children's Chorus, and New Mexico High School and Middle School bands.
Accolades and commissions have come from the Barlow Foundation, the Siemens Music Foundation, Kennedy Center Education, New Music USA, the NRW Fonds Neues Musiktheater, the Russolo Foundation, the Look & Listen Festival, the Third Practice Festival, the Institut International de Musique Electroacoustique de Bourges, the Washington International Composers Competition, The “Bohemians Prize” from the New York Musicians Club, and the ZKM | Institut für Akustik und Musik. Gilbert has also done film scoring for numerous celebrated documentaries which have garnered prizes including the Tallgrass Film Festival Outstanding Documentary Feature, Winner—ABQ Indie Film Festival, and the Grand Jury Prize of the Provincetown Film Festival.
Gilbert's second portrait album for New Focus Recordings was named Best of 2021 by Sequenza21. His work as a composer, performer and producer can also be heard on other albums at New Focus Recordings as well as on CDs with Innova Recordings, GM Recordings, Sono Luminus, Affeto, Centaur, and a planned album of piano works will be released with Neuma Records in 2024, and at http://petergilbert.net.
His multi-media opera dreimaldrei gleich unendlich (trans: 3x3=∞), written with partner, Karola Obermüller, was premiered in 2009 as part of the Musik der Jahrhunderte festival in Stuttgart and was featured in the "Imagining Media" exhibition celebrating the 20th anniversary of the ZKM | Institut für Akustik und Musik. A US production won awards at the National Opera Association (2009). He and Obermüller have presented their installation piece “Listening to Mountains” at international soundscape conferences in Europe and Australia as well as an evening-length devised theatrical work for Klangforum Heidelberg. Other Gilbert-Obermüller collaborations include the Siemens funded opera Robert S. produced with Theater Bonn and a forthcoming opera with Theater Aachen.
He has taught composition, electronic music, music theory and music history at Harvard University, Wellesley College, Northeastern University, University of Massachusetts-Dartmouth, Case Western Reserve University, and the Cleveland Institute of Music. He co-founded the Young Composers Program at CIM and was its Co-Directer from 2003-2010. Gilbert studied with composition with Julian Anderson, Margaret Brouwer, Chaya Czernowin, Mario Davidovsky, Joshua Fineberg, Lee Hyla, Helmut Lachenmann, Magnus Lindberg, Bernard Rands, Hans Tutschku, and David Vayo. He holds degrees from Illinois Wesleyan University and the Cleveland Institute of Music, and a PhD from Harvard University. Since 2010 he has been part of the composition faculty and a coordinator of the composition and music technology areas University of New Mexico as Associate Professor of Composition.