Peter Hanson has been the Concertmaster of Sir John Eliot Gardiner’s Orchestre Révolutionnaire et Romantique since 1992, when the orchestra recorded their first complete cycle of Beethoven symphonies. Highlights since include appearing as Concertmaster soloist for European and US tours of Beethoven’s Missa Solemnis, a 2017 BBC Proms performance of Berlioz’s Damnation of Faust, major European and US tours of the Berlioz and Verdi Requiems in 2018, including two performances at Carnegie Hall, New York and, in early 2020, performances of all the Beethoven symphonies in Barcelona and New York.

In 1993, Peter formed The Eroica Quartet with colleagues from the world of period instrument performance. The group immediately attracted attention with their vision of a revived Romantic approach to the string quartet literature, from Beethoven to Debussy. Their performance style was so unusual at the time that it struck listeners as radical. The Eroica quickly became established, touring widely across the United Kingdom as well as making visits to France and the US. For Harmonia Mundi USA they recorded the Mendelssohn and Schumann quartets and Beethoven quartets Op. 74, 95 and 135. For Resonus Classics they recorded the original 1825 version of Mendelssohn’s Octet, Op. 20 and, more recently, the quartets by Debussy and Ravel. Released to coincide with the 150th anniversary of Debussy’s birth, this album represents the first modern recording of the works to feature performances on gut strings and with aspects of period performance.

Peter is also a Director of the Carmel Bach Festival (CBF) in California. His role incorporates solo and chamber-music performances, directing the String Orchestra and appearing as Concertmaster for most of the Festival Orchestra concerts. The CBF Orchestra is flexible with regard to period and modern instruments and style: the 2018 Festival saw a performance of Vivaldi’s Four Seasons at Hz415 on baroque instruments, followed by Piazzolla’s Four Seasons at Hz440 on modern instruments, with Peter as soloist.