Pete has performed as a guest soloist with
the the Dallas, San Antonio, and Midland-Odessa Symphony Orchestras, and the lab bands of Southwest Texas State University, The University of Texas at
Arlington, Sam Houston State University, Oklahoma State University, Abilene Christian
College, Kansas State University, and Harris County Community College.
Pete has also been featured at the National Jazz Educators' conventions.
While he has doubled woodwinds in Dallas studios for many years, Pete has also directed his energy toward developing small jazz ensembles to perform and record original music. In the 1980's he released two original albums: first, "Moonwater", and then "Dancing Visions", which features his use of the Lyricon synthesizer. Then Pete joined well-known jazz pianist and educator Dan Haerle in a jazz quintet called Kaleidoscope. The quintet's self-titled album, which highlights Dan's and Pete's synthesizer talents, was released in 1987. In 2000, Pete released his latest CD of jazz originals, "Second Wind". Jazz Improv Magazine's review said, "this sound and this musician deserve your attention......Pete handles all the emotions with style to burn". All of Pete's albums are now available on CD.
A native of San Antonio, TX, Pete is an
alumnus of the University of Texas at Austin and The University of
North Texas. As a member of the U.N.T One O'Clock Lab Band, he was a
featured soloist on the "Lab '75" album and also performed on "Lab
'76" before going on tour with the Woody Herman Orchestra.
In Dallas, Pete has performed with several creative ensembles, such as High Rise, Clear Light, Recoil, the Lou Fischer Rehearsal Big Band, and The Pete Petersen Jazz Collection Orchestra. He's also been a valuable doubling woodwind player with The Dallas Summer Musicals Orchestra and The Dallas Symphony Pops Orchestra. In this capacity, Pete has accompanied many featured artists, including Rosemary Clooney, Mel Torme, Tony Bennett, Johnny Mathis, Natalie Cole, Harry Connick Jr., Bernadette Peters, Patti Austin, Josh Groban, and Diana Krall.
In 2000, Pete joined the Brazilian-influenced group, Circo, and performed on their first CD, "North/South Convergence", along with renowned pianist and percussionist, Hugo Fattoruso. Presently, Pete is recording new works for Circo's self-titled second CD, as well as a new CD of his own originals.