Peter Kates

Since 1994 Peter Kates has been the Solo Principal Percussionist with the Bergen Filharmoniske Orkester, chairman of the Percussion Department at the GriegAkademiet Institutt for musikk and a member of the Nordic contemporary music ensemble BIT20. Mr. Kates received his Bachelor of Music degree from The Peabody Institute of the Johns Hopkins University as a student of Jonathan Haas and Fred Begun and his Master of Music degree from the Juilliard School of Music where he studied with Roland Kohloff and Elden Bailey. His formal training also includes studies with Arthur Press, Tom Gauger, Charles Smith, Christopher Lamb and Leigh Howard Stevens. He is also an alumnus of the Aspen Music Festival and the Boston University Tanglewood Institute. In New York, Peter has performed and recorded with several noted ensembles such as Orpheus Chamber Orchestra, New York Chamber Symphony, American Symphony Orchestra, Manhattan Philharmonic Orchestra, Mostly Mozart «Live from Lincoln Center» and the Music Today Series to name only a few. In Norway he has performed with the Oslo Philharmonic Orchestra, the Norwegian Chamber Orchestra and the Symphony Orchestras in both Stavanger and Trondheim. As an educator and clinician, Peter Kates has held classes in orchestral performance and chamber music in both Europe and the USA. He interest in education led him to be a founding member of the Bergen Percussion Festival 2007 and the Virtual Music Technology Festival at the University of Bergen. Mr. Kates currently serves on the Symphonic Committee for The Percussive Arts Society and is a proud endorser of Zildjian cymbals and Pearl concert percussion. Feb 2011