Biography
Educated in Sydney, Budapest and Indiana/USA, Australian cellist Peter Højby Morrison now resides in Copenhagen, where he composes and is employed as a cellist with Denmarks Radio Symphony Orchestra. As both composer, cellist and teacher, he enjoys success working across varied platforms. Trained as a classical musician – an industry in which he has worked for 30 years – he holds special additional interests in concepts and realisations of site-specific projects, seeking out collaborations with sound, theatre, dance and visual artists.
We all have a life - but creativity gives it meaning!
Composing at first britpop music for several years, Peter switched in 2013 to focus primarily on composing purely classical-based works for small to large chamber-music settings as well as string and symphonic orchestra.
He aims to challenge audiences to go beyond their concert-hall passivity to a more engaged response to contemporary music. He often does this by composing works on confronting issues facing humanity and the world. He has composed 38 works to date. Much of Peter's compositional skills and knowledge emanates from his native country Australia, where he was the founding director of Ensemble 24 for seven years and a member of several leading contemporary music groups, commissioning and premiering many works nationally and overseas. He was also a board member for the Australian New Music Network - a government-led and funded initiative for Australian contemporary music showcasing.
As a classical cellist he has held full-time positions with Australia’s leading professional orchestras, also appearing as soloist and has been featured on radio on numerous occasions on the Australian Broadcasting Corporation. Beyond this, Peter was the 'go-to cellist' for over a decade in Sydney, performing on hundreds of commercials, rock/pop albums, major film tracks, and a member of several fusion bands. He initiated recordings for Naxos of Australian music, and has also had numerous solo cello works written for him. He is also presently a member of the Australian World Orchestra, augmenting his responsibilities there as an education advisor and tutor for regional youth orchestras and chamber musicians. He is in demand for masterclasses and has tutored the Australian Youth Orchestra, at the Australian National Academy of Music, and is a featured teacher on Playwithapro.com. In Copenhagen he also performs as part of the contemporary group Mono Duo.
Outside of performing, Peter has worked freelance as an advisor for special events, including the re-opening of the Statens Museum for Kunst in Copenhagen in 2005. He generally takes great delight in conceptualisation of ideas. In 2014 he designed and released a national anthem-themed iOS app called Puppet Anthems. He is greatly interested in education initiatives for society's lesser advantaged and is a volunteer lead for the Danish chapter of Stop Ecocide (www.stopecocide.earth) pushing for the criminalisation of ecocide at the ICC.
Music Positions past and present
Full-time
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Sydney Symphony Orchestra, (6 years)
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Danish Radio Symphony Orchestra (16 years ongoing)
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Australian World Orchestra (10 years ongoing)
Principal and Assistant Principal guest contract positions
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Sydney Symphony Orchestra (4 years)
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Auckland Philharmonia
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Opera Australia
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Adelaide Symphony Orchestra
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Swedish Chamber Orchestra
Long-term contract
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Australian Chamber Orchestra (4 years)
Ensembles/Chamber-music
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Ensemble 24: Founder and Director (6 years)
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The Seymour Group (8 years)
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Mono Duo (9 years ongoing)
Teaching