Peter Croton (born 1957, in New York City) is a Swiss-American lutenist and guitarist. He has attained prominence in his field through his numerous recordings, performances, publications, and teaching engagements. His recorded repertoire includes music from the

Renaissance The Renaissance ( , ) is a Periodization, period of history and a European cultural movement covering the 15th and 16th centuries. It marked the transition from the Middle Ages to modernity and was characterized by an effort to revive and sur ...

Baroque The Baroque ( , , ) is a Western Style (visual arts), style of Baroque architecture, architecture, Baroque music, music, Baroque dance, dance, Baroque painting, painting, Baroque sculpture, sculpture, poetry, and other arts that flourished from ...

and Classical periods, as well as his own compositions. His publications include a

figured bass Figured bass is musical notation in which numerals and symbols appear above or below (or next to) a bass note. The numerals and symbols (often accidental (music), accidentals) indicate interval (music), intervals, chord (music), chords, and non- ...

manual for classical guitarists and publications of compositions for voice and

lute A lute ( or ) is any plucked string instrument with a neck (music), neck and a deep round back enclosing a hollow cavity, usually with a sound hole or opening in the body. It may be either fretted or unfretted. More specifically, the term "lu ...

Career

Peter Croton began playing folk guitar as a child, and classical and jazz guitar as a teenager. He began his lute studies with Loris Chobanian at the

Oberlin Conservatory of Music The Oberlin Conservatory of Music is a private music school, music conservatory of Oberlin College, a Private university, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Oberlin, Ohio. It was founded in 1865 and is the ...

and continued with Eugen Müller-Dombois and

Hopkinson Smith Hopkinson Smith (born December 7, 1946) is a Swiss- American lutenist and pedagogue, longtime resident in Basel, Switzerland. Smith was born in New York City, the son of architectural writer and photographer G. E. Kidder Smith. He graduated fr ...

at the

Schola Cantorum Basiliensis The Schola Cantorum Basiliensis (SCB) is a music academy and research institution located in Basel, Switzerland, that focuses on early music and historically informed performance. Faculty at the school have organized performing ensembles that hav ...

. In 1984 he won first prize at the "Erwin Bodky" competition for Early Music in Cambridge, Massachusetts. He has performed widely on the lute and guitar as a soloist and with musical partners such as Theresia Bothe, Derek Lee Ragin and Susanne Rydén. He has also appeared on numerous CD recordings. He specializes in instruments of the

family, but also occasionally performs and records on romantic guitar and jazz guitar. He teaches lute and thoroughbass at the Schola Cantorum Basiliensis, guitar-thoroughbass at the Conservatory of Music in Basel, and guitar-thoroughbass and historical performance practice at Bern University of the Arts (Musikhochschule). Since 2011 Peter Croton has been included in the Marquis Who's Who in the World.

Publications

*“Open House” (German Lute Society 2001), five new compositions for lute and voice, and one lute solo. *”Remembrance of things past” (Tree Edition 2009), four new musical settings of texts by William Shakespeare for voice and lute. *"Figured Bass on the Classical Guitar" (Amadeus Verlag 2005). *"A Dialogue on a Kisse" by Henry Lawes (Tree Edition 2009) editor and arranger.

Selected recordings

*Bach on the Italian Lute (Guild, 2008) *The Renaissance lute - yesterday and today (Musicaphon, 1996)) *THE LUTE PLAYER and other songs (Centaur Records, 2012), music by Peter Croton, with Theresia Bothe – vocals, and others *Remembrance of Things Past - lute songs & solos by John Dowland & Peter Croton (Guild, 2010), with Theresia Bothe – voice, and special guest Derek Lee Ragin - voice *Love Songs from Five Centuries – from Baroque to Folk (Centaur Records, 2006), songs and lute solos, with Theresia Bothe - soprano *Italian Lute Songs ( Channel Classics Records, 1993), with Derek Lee Ragin - countertenor *I'll sing a song for you (Zah Zah/Guild, 2008), songs by Peter Croton, with Theresia Bothe - vocals, and others *Sweeter Than Roses (Balance, 1997), with Derek Lee Ragin, countertenor and Gerd Lünenberger, recorder

References

bach-cantatas.com
article "Peter Croton (Lute, Guitar, Arranger)", retrieved 1 November 2012
Schola Cantorum Basiliensis
article "Faculty: Peter Croton", retrieved 1 November 2012
Bern University of the Arts
(Musikhochschule), article "Staff: Peter Croton", retrieved 1 November 2012

article "Holders of the Erwin Bodky Prize", retrieved 1 November 2012
Marquis Who's Who
retrieved 1 November 2012 *Lute Society of America Quarterly - Summer 2010, review by Sean Smith of the CD "Remembrance of things past"

Notes

External links

Centaur Records

Tree Edition

Amadeus Verlag

Homepage
{{DEFAULTSORT:Croton, Peter Swiss lutenists 1957 births Living people Musicians from New York City American lutenists