Peter Zummo
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Peter Zummo is an American composer and
trombonist The trombone (, Italian, French: ''trombone'') is a musical instrument in the brass family. As with all brass instruments, sound is produced when the player's lips vibrate inside a mouthpiece, causing the air column inside the instrument to ...
.“Composer Profiles: Peter Zummo”. ''Kalvos and Damian.'' Web. Retrieved September 2, 2014.
/ref> He has been described as "an important exponent of the American contemporary classical tradition." He has called his own work "minimalism plus a whole lot more."“Blue” Gene Tyranny. “Peter Zummo: Zummo With An X”. ''Dram''. September 10, 2006. Web. Retrieved September 2, 2014.
/ref> Since 1967, Zummo's compositions exploring
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music,
electronic music Electronic music broadly is a group of music genres that employ electronic musical instruments, circuitry-based music technology and software, or general-purpose electronics (such as personal computers) in its creation. It includes both music ...
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disco Disco is a music genre, genre of dance music and a subculture that emerged in the late 1960s from the United States' urban nightclub, nightlife, particularly in African Americans, African-American, Italian-Americans, Italian-American, LGBTQ ...
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punk Punk or punks may refer to: Genres, subculture, and related aspects * Punk rock, a music genre originating in the 1970s associated with various subgenres * Punk subculture, a subculture associated with punk rock, or aspects of the subculture s ...
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world music "World music" is an English phrase for styles of music from non-English speaking countries, including quasi-traditional, Cross-cultural communication, intercultural, and traditional music. World music's broad nature and elasticity as a musical ...
have been presented in venues including
Brooklyn Academy of Music The Brooklyn Academy of Music (BAM) is a multi-arts center in Brooklyn, New York City. It hosts progressive and avant-garde performances, with theater, dance, music, opera, film programming across multiple nearby venues. BAM was chartered in 18 ...
,
New York City Center New York City Center (previously known as the Mecca Temple, City Center of Music and Drama, and the New York City Center 55th Street Theater) is a performing arts center at 131 West 55th Street (Manhattan), 55th Street between Sixth Avenue, Six ...
, Experimental Intermedia Foundation,
Roulette Roulette (named after the French language, French word meaning "little wheel") is a casino game which was likely developed from the Italy, Italian game Biribi. In the game, a player may choose to place a bet on a single number, various grouping ...
, The Kitchen,
Dance Theater Workshop Dance Theater Workshop, colloquially known as DTW, was a New York City performance space and service organization for dance companies that operated from 1965 to 2011. DTW merged with the Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane Dance Company to form New York Live ...
, and
La MaMa Experimental Theatre Club La MaMa Experimental Theatre Club (sometimes abbreviated as La MaMa E.T.C.) is an Off-Off-Broadway theater founded in 1961 by African-American theatre director, producer, and fashion designer Ellen Stewart. Located in the East Village neighborho ...
, among many others in New York City. He has appeared in additional venues across the country and worldwide, including Café Oto and King's Place in London, KRAAK Festival in Brussels, and Rewire Festival in The Hague. The website of the music magazine ''Pitchfork'' called Zummo's music “the sound of sublimity…that sends shivers down the nervous system,” and in an interview with ''The Quietus'', Scottish deejay JD Twitch (Keith McIvor) characterized Zummo's work as “sheer bliss.”Andy Beta. “Arthur Russell/Peter Zummo: Zummo With An X”. ''Pitchfork''. June 12, 2012. Web. Retrieved September 2, 2014.
/ref>


Composing and performing career

In the British culture blog "The Ransom Note," Tim Wilson wrote that some of Zummo's "most familiar" music was created with cellist Arthur Russell.Tim Wilson. “Peter Zummo Talks + Listen to Influences Tapes”. ''The Ransom Note.'' April 17, 2014. Web. Retrieved September 2, 2014.
/ref> Zummo played on most of Russell's recordings and produced several of them. According to a review of their collaboration in ''
The New Yorker ''The New Yorker'' is an American magazine featuring journalism, commentary, criticism, essays, fiction, satire, cartoons, and poetry. It was founded on February 21, 1925, by Harold Ross and his wife Jane Grant, a reporter for ''The New York T ...
'', “phrases emerge and wrap around each other: Peter Zummo’s gorgeous trombone motif, Russell’s pizzicato cello theme, and a growing drone of loud, dissonant guitars…When the smoke clears, genre is just a memory.” Russell, in turn, played often for Zummo, notably on the
Bessie Award The New York Dance and Performance Awards, also known as the Bessie Awards, are awarded annually for exceptional achievement by independent dance artists presenting their work in New York City. The broad categories of the awards are: choreography, ...
–winning composition ''Lateral Pass,'' created for a dance by choreographer
Trisha Brown Trisha Brown (November 25, 1936 – March 18, 2017) was an American choreographer and dancer, and one of the founders of the Judson Dance Theater and the postmodern dance movement. Brown’s dance/movement method, with which she and her danc ...
, with a stage set by artist
Nancy Graves Nancy Graves (December 23, 1939 – October 21, 1995) was an American sculptor, painter, printmaker, and sometime filmmaker known for her focus on natural phenomena like camels or maps of the Moon. Her works are included in many public collection ...
. In 2014, Foom Music, in London, released an original recording of this 1985 piece. Said
Piccadilly Records PYE or Pye Records is an independent British record label. It was first established in 1955 and played a major role in shaping rock 'n' roll and pop music history. The Pye name was dropped in 1980 due to trademark issues, after which it produced ...
, the recording demonstrated that “Zummo’s signature trombone style, renowned for its rich and soothing tone, has become one of the most beloved features of Russell’s celebrated sound." In 2014,
Mikhail Barishnikov Mikhail Nikolayevich Baryshnikov ( rus, Михаил Николаевич Барышников, p=mʲɪxɐˈil bɐ'rɨʂnʲɪkəf; ; born January 27, 1948) is a Latvian and American dancer, choreographer, and actor. He was the preeminent male ...
's
Baryshnikov Arts Center The Baryshnikov Arts Center (BAC) is a foundation and arts complex opened by Mikhail Baryshnikov in 2005 at 450 West 37th Street between Ninth and Tenth Avenues in the Hell's Kitchen neighborhood of Manhattan, New York City. The top three fl ...
, in New York City, awarded Zummo and bass player Ernie Brooks a residency for the creation of new work. Additional support over the years has come from the
National Endowment for the Arts The National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) is an independent agency of the United States federal government that offers support and funding for projects exhibiting artistic excellence. It was created in 1965 as an independent agency of the feder ...
, the
New York State Council on the Arts The New York State Council on the Arts (NYSCA) serves to foster and advance the arts, culture, and creativity throughout New York State, according to its website. The goal of the council is to allow all New Yorkers to benefit from the contribution ...
,
Meet the Composer New Music USA is a new music organization formed by the merging of the American Music Center with Meet The Composer on November 8, 2011. The new organization retains the granting programs of the two former organizations as well as two media progr ...
, the
New York Foundation for the Arts The New York Foundation for the Arts (NYFA) is an independent 501(c)(3) charity, funded through government, foundation, corporate, and individual support, established in 1971. It is part of a network of national not-for-profit arts organizations ...
, and other funders. Zummo appears as himself in
Jonathan Demme Robert Jonathan Demme ( ; February 22, 1944 – April 26, 2017) was an American filmmaker, whose career directing, producing, and screenwriting spanned more than 30 years and 70 feature films, documentaries, and television productions. He was an ...
's ''Accumulation with Talking Plus Water Motor,'' a film featuring Trisha Brown, and in'' Wild Combination: A Portrait of Arthur Russell'', a documentary by Matt Wolf. His reflections on working with Russell can be heard in a Roulette Intermedium interview. Zummo contributed to the score of ''Tramas'', Italian director Augusto Contento's cinematic portrait of São Paulo, Brazil, worked with artist
Donald Judd Donald Clarence Judd (June 3, 1928February 12, 1994) was an American artist associated with minimalism.Tate Modern websit"Tate Modern Past Exhibitions Donald Judd" Retrieved on February 19, 2009. In his work, Judd sought autonomy and clarity for ...
to realize a work accompanying Trisha Brown's choreography for ''Newark'', and played for
Andrei Șerban Andrei Șerban (born June 21, 1943) is a Romanian-United States, American theater director. A major name in twentieth-century theater, he is renowned for his innovative and iconoclastic interpretations and stagings. In 1992 he became Professor of ...
Liz Swados Elizabeth Swados (February 5, 1951 – January 5, 2016) was an American writer, composer, musician, choreographer, and theatre director. Swados received Tony Award nominations for Best Musical, Best Direction of a Musical, Best Book of a Music ...
collaborations, including ''Fragments of a Greek Trilogy''. Zummo performs for other bands and bandleaders, including the
Lounge Lizards The Lounge Lizards were an eclectic No Wave musical group founded by saxophonist John Lurie and his brother, pianist Evan Lurie, in 1978. Initially known for their ironic, tongue-in-cheek take on jazz, The Lounge Lizards eventually became a s ...
, Gods and Monsters, Stephen Gaboury’s B-Twist Orchestra for the dance company Ballets with a Twist, Go: Organic Orchestra, Tilt Brass, Downtown Ensemble, Flexible Orchestra, The Necessaries, and
Dinosaur L Charles Arthur Russell Jr. (May 21, 1951 – April 4, 1992) was an American cellist, composer, producer, singer, and musician from Iowa, whose work spanned a disparate range of styles. After studying contemporary composition and Indian classica ...
. He has also played in units put together by composers
David Behrman David Behrman (born August 16, 1937) is an American composer and a pioneer of computer music. In the early 1960s he was the producer of Columbia Records' ''Music of Our Time'' series, which included the first recording of Terry Riley's ''In C''.< ...
,
Philip Corner Philip Lionel Corner (b. The Bronx, New York, April 10, 1933; name sometimes given as Phil Corner) is an American composer, trombonist, alphornist, vocalist, pianist, music theorist, music educator, and visual artist. Biography After The ...

Guy De Bièvre
Tom Hamilton, William Hellerman,
Annea Lockwood Annea Lockwood (born July 29, 1939, in Christchurch, New Zealand) is a New Zealand-born American composer and academic musician. She taught electronic music at Vassar College. Her range is vast and often includes microtonal, electro-acoustic soun ...
, Jackson MacLow,
Ben Neill Ben Neill (born November 14, 1957) is an American composer, trumpeter, producer, author, and educator. He is the inventor of the "Mutantrumpet", a hybrid electro-acoustic instrument. Early life, family and education Neill was born in Winston-Sa ...
,
Phill Niblock Phillip Earl Niblock (October 2, 1933 – January 8, 2024) was an American composer, filmmaker, and videographer. In 1985, he was appointed director of Experimental Intermedia,Alan Licht, ''Common Tones: Selected Interviews with Artists and Music ...
,
Pauline Oliveros Pauline Oliveros (May 30, 1932 – November 24, 2016) was an American composer, accordionist and a central figure in the development of post-war experimental and electronic music. She was a founding member of the San Francisco Tape Music Center ...
,
Vernon Reid Vernon Alphonsus Reid (born 22 August 1958) is an American guitarist and songwriter best known as the founder of the rock band Living Colour. Reid was named No. 66 on ''Rolling Stone'' magazine's 2003 list of the 100 Greatest Guitarists of All Ti ...
,
Steve Swell Steve Swell (born December 6, 1954 in Newark, New Jersey) is an American free jazz trombonist, composer, and educator. Music career Swell studied at Jersey City State Teachers College before moving to New York City in 1975 where he began his m ...
,
Yasunao Tone was a Japanese multidisciplinary artist born in Tokyo, Japan and working in New York City. He graduated from Chiba University in 1957 with a major in Japanese Literature. An important figure in postwar Japanese art during the 1960s, he was active ...
, Lise Vachon,
Yoshi Wada Yoshimasa "Yoshi" Wada (11 November 1943 – 18 May 2021) was a Fluxus-related Japanese sound art installation artist and new music musician who lived in New York City before moving to San Francisco, California. Life Born in Japan, after movi ...
, and others.Dr Rob. “20 Questions/006/Peter Zummo”. ''Test Pressing.'' July 2, 2012. Web. Retrieved September 2, 2014.
/ref> Zummo performed on
Teo Macero Attilio Joseph "Teo" Macero (October 30, 1925 – February 19, 2008) was an American jazz record producer, saxophonist, and composer. He was a producer at Columbia Records for twenty years. Macero produced Miles Davis' ''Bitches Brew'' and Dave B ...
’s ''Fusion,'' which featured both the
Lounge Lizards The Lounge Lizards were an eclectic No Wave musical group founded by saxophonist John Lurie and his brother, pianist Evan Lurie, in 1978. Initially known for their ironic, tongue-in-cheek take on jazz, The Lounge Lizards eventually became a s ...
and the
London Philharmonic Orchestra The London Philharmonic Orchestra (LPO) is a British orchestra based in London. One of five permanent symphony orchestras in London, the LPO was founded by the conductors Thomas Beecham, Sir Thomas Beecham and Malcolm Sargent in 1932 as a riv ...
. In addition to composing innumerable works for groups he has put together himself, Zummo has created compositions for others. ''Blue Headlights'' was written for live performance by New York Virtuoso Singers in 2023. In 2018, Italian musician and conductor Luciano Chessa performed ''Think Quick'' in Australia. Also that year, S''econd Spring,'' a movie by British director Andy Kelleher, premiered with a score by Zummo. In 1995, Guy Klucevsek's record ''Ain’t Nothin’ But A Polka Band ''featured Zummo's ''(the) Who Stole the Polka?''.


Education and training

After Zummo's early classical-music education in his hometown,
Cleveland Cleveland is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County. Located along the southern shore of Lake Erie, it is situated across the Canada–U.S. maritime border and approximately west of the Ohio-Pennsylvania st ...
, Ohio, he earned bachelor’s and master’s degrees in music and composition at
Wesleyan University Wesleyan University ( ) is a Private university, private liberal arts college, liberal arts university in Middletown, Connecticut, United States. It was founded in 1831 as a Men's colleges in the United States, men's college under the Methodi ...
, in
Middletown, Connecticut Middletown is a city in Middlesex County, Connecticut, United States. Located along the Connecticut River, in the central part of the state, 16 miles (25.749504 km) south of Hartford, Connecticut, Hartford. Middletown is the largest city in the L ...
. There he studied with
Alvin Lucier Alvin Augustus Lucier Jr. (May 14, 1931 – December 1, 2021) was an American experimental composer and sound artist. A long-time music professor at Wesleyan University in Middletown, Connecticut, Lucier was a member of the influential Sonic Ar ...
, Ken McIntyre,
Clifford Thornton Clifford Edward Thornton III (September 6, 1936 – November 25, 1989) was an American jazz trumpeter, trombonist, political activist, and educator. He played free jazz and avant-garde jazz in the 1960s and '70s. Career Clifford was born in Phil ...
, Daoud Haroon,
Dick Griffin James "Dick" Richard Griffin (born January 28, 1940, in Jackson, Mississippi) is an American jazz trombonist known for his work on Strata-East Records, and with Rahsaan Roland Kirk. As a child he studied piano, soon switching to trombone. After ...
, and Sam Rivers, among others. After Wesleyan, Zummo moved to New York City, where he continued trombone studies with Carmine Caruso and
Roswell Rudd Roswell Hopkins Rudd Jr. (November 17, 1935 – December 21, 2017) was an American jazz trombonist and composer. Although skilled in a variety of genres of jazz (including Dixieland, which he performed while in college), and other genres of musi ...
and sought out the influences of James Fulkerson and
Stuart Dempster Stuart Dempster (born July 7, 1936 in Berkeley, California) is a trombonist, didjeridu player, improviser, and composer. Biography After Dempster completed his studies at San Francisco State College, he was appointed assistant professor at th ...
. In New York City, Zummo developed extended techniques for the trombone and other instruments and created many works, including numerous pieces with his wife, then-choreographer and dancer Stephanie Woodard. For several years, he wrote music and performance reviews in the ''
SoHo Weekly News The ''SoHo Weekly News'' (SWN) was a weekly alternative newspaper founded by music publicist Michael Goldstein and published in New York City from 1973 to 1982. Positioned as a competitor to ''The Village Voice'', it struggled financially. T ...
''. For a 2006 article by “Blue” Gene Tyranny in ''Dram,'' Zummo described his compositional approach as being about “persons not instruments,” elaborating that he provides “material for musicians and sufficient instructions, so they don’t make arbitrary but rather logical or heartfelt decisions.” His work, Zummo continued, thus “engenders a social situation reflecting modern society.”


Academic and other positions

Zummo has been a visiting artist at the Oberlin Conservatory of Music, Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique et de Dance de Paris, and the Conservatory of Amsterdam, and Wesleyan University, among others. He was senior faculty advisor with the New York Arts Program, a New York City-based project of
Ohio Wesleyan University Ohio Wesleyan University (abbrevriated OWU) is a private university, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Delaware, Ohio, United States. It was founded in 1842 by Methodist leaders and Ohio Valley, Centra ...
and the
Great Lakes Colleges Association The Great Lakes Colleges Association (GLCA) is a consortium of 13 liberal arts colleges located in the states around the Great Lakes. The GLCA's offices are located in Ann Arbor, Michigan and its 13 schools are located in Michigan, Ohio, Pennsylvan ...
, and artistic director of The Loris Bend Foundation, a nonprofit presenter of music, dance, and media.


Selected discography

Selected works:


Producer or co-producer

*''Arthur’s Landing,'' by Arthur Russell, on Strut, 2011 *''H*E*R – Songs About the Mysteries of Housework and Nature,'' by Yvette Perez (Massoudi), on Persian Cardinal, 2007 *''Disco Not Disco,'' by Arthur Russell, on Strut, 2000 *''Treehouse/School Bell,'' by Arthur Russell, on Sleeping Bag, 1986


Composer/performer

*''Deep Drive 2+,'' on Unheard of Hope, an imprint of Tin Angel, 2023 *''Tone Bone Kone,'' on Unheard of Hope, an imprint of Tin Angel, 2021 *''Chord Fanfare (And You Can Decorate Your Helmet),'' in the compilation ''Wind Layers,'' on 7K, 2021 *''Deep Drive,'' on Unheard of Hope, an imprint of Tin Angel, 2019 *''Frame Loop,'' on Foom , 2018 *''Dress Code,'' on Optimo, 2016 *''Lateral Pass'', on Foom, 2014 *''Fast Dream,'' for the DownTown Ensemble's ''DownTown Only'', on Lovely Music, 2001 *''Slybersonic Tromosome,'' with Tom Hamilton, on Penumbra, 2000 *''Experimenting with Household Chemicals,'' on XI, 1995 *''Zummo with an X,'' on Loris Records, 1985, New World, 2006, and Optimo, 2012 *''Travelers Through Days and Days,'' on the band Sunship's ''Into the Sun'', on Capitol, 1974


Collaborator/performer

*''Random Person,'' by Burner Herzog, on BC Studios, 2023 *''Thought Sent Valley,'' with Tilman Robinson, in ''Duet Layers,'' on 7K, 2022 *''Thinking a View,'' with Eddie Ruscha, on Fourth Sounds, 2022 *''First Thought Best Thought,'' by Arthur Russell, on Audika, 2021 *''What's Not Enough About That,'' with Bex Burch, on Vula Viel, 2020 *''Watermelon Sun,'' with Tom Skinner and the band Hello Skinny, on Brownswood, 2017 *''Tahdig,'' by Yvette (Perez) Massoudi, on Persian Cardinal, 2018 *''Master Mix: Red Hot + Arthur Russell,'' by Red Hot Organization, on 2014 *''Sonic Mandala,'' by Adam Rudolph and Go: Organic Orchestra, on Meta, 2013 *''Can You Imagine…The Sound of a Dream,'' by Adam Rudolph and Go: Organic Orchestra, on Meta, 2011 *''Winter Moon,'' by Heroes of Toolik, on Kennel Studio, 2012 *''I Wake Up Screaming,'' by Kid Creole and the Coconuts, on Strut, 2011 *''The Business of Here,'' by Steve Swell/The Nation of We, on Cadence Jazz, 2008 *''H.E.R.—Songs About the Mysteries of Housework and Nature,'' with Yvette Perez (Massoudi), on Persian Cardinal, 2009 *''Vocalise,'' by Lise Vachon, on Say No More, 2006 *''My Dear Siegfried,'' by David Behrman, on XI, 2005 *''Bending the Tonic (Twice),'' by Guy De Bièvre, on Canal Street, 2005 *''Calling Out Of Context,'' by Arthur Russell, on Audika, 2004 *''I Fly,'' by Yvette Perez (Massoudi), on Birdbrain, 2004 *''Centrifugal Swing,'' by William McClelland's band The Feetwarmers, 2003 *''Off-Hour Wait State,'' by Tom Hamilton, on Looking Glass Studios, 1996 *''Another Thought,'' by Arthur Russell, on Point, 1994 *''Thousand Year Dreaming,'' by Annea Lockwood, on Nonsequitur, 1993 *''100 of the World’s Most Beautiful Melodies,'' by Nicolas Collins, 1989 *''Brooklyn,'' by Peter Gordon, on CBS, 1987 *''Innocent,'' by Peter Gordon, on CBS, 1986 *''Instrumentals,'' by Arthur Russell, on Crepuscule, 1984 *''Live on the Drunken Boat,'' by the band The Lounge Lizards, on Europa, 1983 *''Down by Law,'' John Lurie's soundtrack album, on Crammed Discs, 1987 *'' 24–24 Music,'' by Arthur Russell and the band Dinosaur L; on Sleeping Bag, 1981 *''Big Sky,'' by the band The Necessaries, on Sire, 1981


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Zummo, Peter 1948 births Living people Wesleyan University alumni American male composers 21st-century American composers American trombonists American male trombonists Contemporary classical music performers Place of birth missing (living people) Musicians from Cleveland 21st-century trombonists 21st-century American male musicians The Lounge Lizards members Didgeridoo players Love of Life Orchestra members SoHo Weekly News people