| Colton Peltier |
Colton Peltier, 13 year old pianist, burst upon the music world at the age of 9 when he performed Beethoven's Concerto #1 with the St. Paul Chamber Orchestra in eight young people's concerts, Marlene Pauley conducting. He was re-engaged almost immediately for the following year, playing Saint-Saëns Carnival of the Animals. In the next year, at age 10, Colton continued to perform with orchestras in Minnesota. Some of the highlights were playing with the Minnesota Orchestra as the winner of the Minnesota Idol Competition, the Kenwood Symphony as winner of the Mozart Concerto Competition, and traveling to Jackson Hole, WY where he performed with the Grand Teton Music Festival Orchestra. At age 11, Colton again was engaged for numerous performances: He performed Gershwin's Rhapsody in Blue with the Allegro Con Brio Orchestra and seven times over 6 months with the Minnesota Orchestra, Osmo Vänskä conducting. In the past year, Colton performed with the Virginia Waring International Competition Orchestra, winning first prize, and the Prokofiev Concerto # 1 with the Southeast Iowa Symphony Orchestra in three concerts. He will be performing the Tchaikovsky Concerto #1 in May of 2008 with the La Mont Symphony in Denver, Colorado. Along with Colton's concerti appearances, he also has performed solo at many venues. He has played for two years in a row at the "Beethoven's Back" kick-off for the Minnesota Orchestra season, was a guest performer at the Goshen College National Piano Workshop in Indiana, and has also been chosen to perform in the highly acclaimed "Salon se Lève" concert series, which showcases Minnesota's most elite musicians. He has been asked to perform again this year in this series. Colton studies piano with Dr. Paul Wirth of the Central Minnesota Music School and has also has received coaching from Stephen Kovacevich, André Watts at age 9 and periodically travels to Juilliard in New York City to work with Yoheved Kaplinsky. He also has attended the Aspen Music Festival where he studied with Prof. Kaplinsky. He will be returning to Aspen this coming summer. Colton has participated in competitions throughout the last few years. Some of his highlights are winning the Minnesota Orchestra's "Minnesota Idol" Concerto Competition, winning the Minneapolis Music Teachers Forum Mozart Concerto Competition and most recently, winning the Virginia Waring International Piano Concerto Competition. Outside of music, Colton enjoys school, tennis, golf and spending time with his friends and family. |