JOSEPH PETRIC made his Canadian debut as a successful contestant in the CBC Radio National Auditions in 1980. His American debut at a sold out Kennedy Centre in October 1986 was noted by Joseph McLelland as the chamber music performance of the year in the New Year's Eve publication of the Washington Post. Petric made his European debut in London in 1989 to strong critical reviews and in 1992 was invited to record for the BBC Radio system. He gives more than 70 concerts a year in solo recital, new music, chamber music and concerto performances. He is the only accordionist ever to have been active professionally as a piano accordionist (1974 - 1982) and the chromatic button accordion (1982 until the present).

His new album of Antonio Soler harpsichord sonatas will be released on the Analekta label in the summer of 1998. His album Joseph Petric Accordion on the Music Viva label became popular immediately after its release in 1992. In the last four years Joseph has commissioned four new concertos by composers Peter Paul Koprowski, Gunnar Valkare, Omar Daniel and Howard Skempton. Skempton's Double Concerto for Oboe and Accordion was recently chosen for the British submission to the ISCM New Music Days in Romania in 1999. In 1997 he gave more than 20 performances of concertos which he commissioned. In Canada he has performed and recorded with the Toronto Symphony Orchestra with Jukka Pekka Saraste, the Vancouver CBC Chamber Orchestra, the Saskatoon Symphony, Thunder Bay Symphony, Quebec Symphony, the International Symphony and the Atlantic Symphony, the BBC Concert Orchestra in the UK and the Camerata Roman in Sweden. The Koprowski Accordion Concerto which Joseph recorded with the Toronto Symphony Orchestra in 1996 will be released on the Musica Viva label this year.

Petric has appeared as a soloist in Canada at the Orpheum Theatre, Eckhardt Grammate Auditorium, Roy Thompson Hall, Glenn Gould Studio, Salle Pierre Mercure, Place des Artes, National Arts Centre, Memorial Hall (St John's), the Kennedy Centre, Merkin Hall, DePaul Centre and Jordan Hall in the USA, the Purcell Room, St John's Smith Square, Bridgewater Hall, Liverpool Philharmonic, Nottingham Philharmonic, Peterborough Cathedral, Golder's Green Hippodrome and the BBC Concert Hall in the UK, and Franz Berwald in Stockholm. His recordings for radio systems include all major CBC programs in Canada including Two New Hours, The Arts Tonight, Peter Gzowski's Morningside, Music Around Us, on the French Societe Radio Canada Musique Actuelle, Pour la Musique. In the USA he has appeared regularily on the PBS radio affiliates in performance with Pauline Oliveros, and in solo recital with the the Minnesota Public Radio and its 189 affiliates throughout the USA. In 1996 Petric recorded for BBC's Radio 3 in a special program featuring new music for accordion with Mie Miki of Germany, and Norwegian state radio.

In 1986 Petric declined an invitation to rejuvenate the accordion program at the Royal Conservatory of Toronto in order to devote his energy entirely to commissioning, performing and designing of new instruments.To date Petric has commissioned more than 110 new works for accordion. In 1986 he astonished Witold Lutowslawski by suggesting that his Dance Preludes be performed in a version for viola and accordion. Lutowslawski agreed and the work has become popular in a version for clarinet and accordion which Petric performs with the British clarinetist Fiona Cross.

In 1986 Petric was invited by the members of the Canadian Electronic Ensemble to perform and record electroacoustic repertoire. Joseph considers this period pivotal in his development of commissions with digital and computer enhancement. Petric maintains his relationship with the world's longest active electronic ensemble to this day. In 1982 Petric began a series of collaborations with the faculty of the Music Department at McGill University in Montreal.

In October of 1997 Petric began a major tour of Eastern Canada with Guy Few (trumpet, piano) and Alain Trudel (trombone). Featuring music by Couperin, Krebs, Bach and contemporary electroacoustic works, Bellows and Brass was quickly booked for 20 concerts in Western Canada in the fall of 1998. His central Canadian tour with Guy Few and soprano Anne Marie Wright in January of 1997 featured arrangements of songs by Enrique Granados and Joseph Cantaloube. This Classical song program has been booked for 15 more concerts in February of 1999 in Eastern Canada.

A champion of new music, Petric's duo with legendary baritone saxophonist David Mott will travel to Europe and begin a European tour at Amsterdam's most famous new music venue the Yjsbrekker in March of 1999. Petric has also appeared at major festivals in Europe including Huddersfield Festival, and Siljan Festival. In conjunction with his festival appearances in Europe he was visiting professor of accordion at the Conservatory of Central Finland on an annual basis from 1986 until 1992.

Petric was the driving force behind the Big Squeeze Accordion Festival held in Toronto in August and September of 1991. In co-operation with Derek Andrews and the Harbourfront Centre, and the CBC television and radio system. the festival featured 32 artists from around the world. Live attendance for the festival topped 100,000 listeners and electronic and print media viewers was estimated to be one and a half million. As an artistic director Petric was invited to develop the Virtuosi series at Toronto's new Glenn Gould Hall.

Petric's stylistic interests have led him to noted collaborations and astonishing choices for transcriptions. He has worked with New Music Concerts, La Societe de Musique Contemporaine de Quebec, the Vancouver New Music Society, the Edmonton New Music Society, Nova Music, the Boston Modern Orchestra Project. He has premiered over 220 transcriptions of works by Mozart, Bach, Beethoven, Rameau, Couperin, Soler, Scarlatti, Haydn, Stravinsky, Ibert, Poulenc, Schumann, Regondi and Molique.

In 1998 Petric recorded his first album for the Analekta label of Montreal. Entitled Padre Antonio Soler - Nine Sonatas, this disc was released on June 1st 1999 in Canada, with a European and international release scheduled for October of 1999. Other releases with Analekta are planned with Alain Trudel and Guy Few, as well as a recording of the works of Canadian composer Boyd MacDonald.

In June of 1999 Petric appeared with the SMCQ Ensemble in Paris at the Theatre des Bouffes du Nords under the auspices of IRCAM in a highly successful performance of works by John Zorn and John Adams. In the same month he recorded a new work for accordion and electroacoustic element by Randall Smith for the Imprinte Digitale label of Montreal. Newly commissioned works for Erosonic by John Oswald, Bruno DeGazio, Serge Arcuri and David Mott will be performed in Canada and the USA as well as concerto commissions planned with Priti Paintal(UK) Ian Wilson (Eire) and Martin Butler.

Contact details and further information

JOSEPH PETRIC se délecte à faire éclater les mythes de l'accordéon. Plus d'une centaine d'oeuvres ont été commandées par lui, et ses intérêts musicaux, d'une portée considérable, ont été poursuivis par de collaborations importantes.

L'année dernière, Petric a débuté avec l'Orchestre Symphonique de Toronto. Avec Jukka Pekka Saraste il interprète le concerto pour accordéon de Peter Paul Koprowski. Les critiques ont loué Petric pour sa représentation "brillante" et "sensationnelle". Ce morceau de Koprowski fut enregistré chez Musica Viva quelques jours plus tard par Saraste et l'Orchestre Symphonique de Toronto. Petric a récemment fait une tournée en Suède et au Royaume-Uni avec l'orchestre suédois, Camerata Roman, et il a donné 18 représentations des nouveaux concertos du Suédois, Gunnar Valkare, ainsi que du double concerto pour hautbois et accordéon de l'Anglais, Howard Skempton. Sous peu, les deux oeuvres seront respectivement enregistrées chez Sverigophone et Phillips. Martin Butler (R-U), Priti Paintal (Indes), Omar Danial (Canada) et Peteris Plakidis (Lettonie) sont en voie de composer d'autres concertos pour Petric. Ce dernier a tout récemment enregistré les oeuvres de Percy Grainger avec la Sinfonietta de la Cité de Londres et le double concerto de Astor Piazzolla, "Hommage à Liège", avec les membres de la Symphonie Atlantique. Au Canada, Petric a été de concert avec l'Orchestre de Chambre de Vancouver de la Société Radio-Canada, la Symphonie du Québec et l'Orchestre de Thunder Bay; il concertera prochainement avec la Symphonie de Saskatoon.

Le London Independant fait l'éloge de Petric pour "ses interprétations qui tiennent tout auditoire aux aguets", et ce même journal fait remarquer que "si Petric avait été pianiste, il aurait longtemps gagné la Compétition Leeds". Petric concerte régulièrement dans les grands halls de concert à Londres, New York, Washington, Chicago, Stockholm et Toronto.

Petric a plus de 6 disques compacts à son nom, disponibles sous les labels ConAccord, Centrediscs, Imprinte Digitale, Trappist, Zorro et Musica Viva. De nouveaux disques seront distribués par Sverigophone, Phillips, Analekta, Upbeat, Musica Viva et York.

Petric est réputé pour ses interprétations d'oeuvres contemporaines et il enregistre régulièrement pour le "Two New Hours" de la Société Radio-Canada. Il a travaillé en collaboration avec toutes les sociétés de nouvelle musique au Canada, avec les membres de Nexus et avec le feu Witold Lutoslawski. Partout au pays, on a pu l'entendre à toutes les émissions nationales et à plusieurs programmes locaux à Radio-Canada, à la radio scandinave et la Radio 3 du BBC, ainsi qu'au Service International du BBC de Londres.

Petric se distingue aussi par ses arrangements et ses transcriptions musicales, ayant transcrit plus de 60 compositions de Mozart, Soler, Scarlatti, Bach, Rameau, Couperin, Krebs et Frescobaldi pour accordéon. Parmi ces oeuvres, plusieurs ont été enregistrées.

Petric jouit aussi d'une réputation de musicien de chambre. Les critiques ont qualifié de pièce "provocante, audacieuse" son Duo Chroma avec le wundermusikant canadien, Guy Few. Son duo Erosonic innovateur avec le saxophoniste de jazz, David Mott, a été per¨u comme étant "incroyable, ésotérique, sensuel..." Sa collaboration avec l'accordéoniste de jazz parisien, Richard Galliano, a captivé l'attention des États-Unis et de la France. Petric a aussi commandé et collaboré à de nouvelles compositions de Andrew P. MacDonald (CA), Adrian Williams (Pays de Galles) et Ramon Peliski (Espagne) pour les quatuors Alcan (CA), Vanbrugh (IR) et Arriaga (BELG).

En tant que réalisateur artistique, Petric a jouit d'un succès insigne. Son festival d'accordéon intitulé, "Big Squeeze", a mis en vedette 32 accordéonistes et a fait forte impression sur le plan international. Sous sa direction, les séries "Virtuosis" au Studio Glen Gould pour la Société Radio-Canada fut acclamées et per¨ues comme étant "enivrante... émouvante" par la presse de Toronto.

Les engagements ultérieurs de Petric comprendront des représentations en Suède, en Norvège, en France, en Hollande, au Pays de Galles, en écosse, en Angleterre et aux États-Unis; il est aussi invité à Signapore et à Manille.

Contact details and further information

Richard Paul Concert Artists
801 King St. West. Suite 211
Toronto, Ontario Canada
M5V 3C9

Tel: 416-595-9555
Toll Free: 866-224-8046
Fax: 416-703-7427

E-mail Richard Paul Concert Artists

For further details, see Richard Paul Concert Artists web site

For local agents internationally,
contact jpetric@interlog.com
(416) 595 9555