Peter Fischer is Associate Professor of Music at Texas Tech University where he teaches theory and composition.  Prior to his appointment at TTU he taught for 8 years at Adams State College in Alamosa, Colorado.  His works have been performed nationally and internationally.  He was named the Grand Prize winner of the 2008 International Society of Bassists, Solo Division, for his Sonata for Contrabass and Piano.  Recent works include the Sonata for Clarinet and Piano (2008), a chamber opera—O D’Amarti O Morire (2008), based on the story of Don Carlo Gesualdo, the Ballet of Magical Beings (2006) for wind ensemble, The Sea is Calm Tonight, for SATB Choir and Piano, commissioned by Bruce Chamberlain at the University of Arizona and premiered by him at the Regional ACDA Convention in Salt Lake City in March 2006.  Other works include the song cycle Barcarole, Notturno I and Notturno II for solo piano—both premiered in March 2009 by Gabriel Sanchez, and two new choral works for SSAA and piano—Strange Voices Sing Among the Planets, premiered by Tristan Frampton at the University of Missouri (May 2009), and Echo, premiered in the spring of 2010 by Carolyn Cruse and the TTU Women's Chorale.  Dr. Fischer studied composition with Dinos Constantinides, Peter Hesterman, Mark Lee, Paul Haydn, and Jan Bach.  He studied electronic and computer music with Stephen David Beck.  He has participated in master classes with Bernard Rands and Milton Babbitt. He studied piano with Cynthia Geyer, Mark Lee, and George Sanders.  He completed a DMA in Music Composition at Louisiana State University and holds degrees in Music and English Literature from Illinois Benedictine College, and a Masters Degree in Music Composition from Eastern Illinois University.