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Since his arrival in the U.S. in 2007, Peter Shannon and the Savannah Philharmonic Orchestra and Chorus have prompted the media to describe their performances as “sublime,” “intense” and “stellar”.
After Shannon took over the reins in Savannah, critics wrote: “he’s like a touch of Irish Spring after the long winter of our discontent.”
One critic described the Irish conductor as a “juggernaut on stage” and compared a Philharmonic performance of Beethoven’s Fifth Symphony to that of being at a rock concert: “…I hope Peter Shannon forgives the tortured analogy to AC/DC,” he wrote “-it’s intended as a compliment.”
Following in the tradition of Bach at the Collegium Musicum at Leipzig University, Germany, Shannon spent the previous decade conducting the Collegium Musicum Orchestra in Heidelberg.
Peter was 26 when he accepted the position at the oldest and most prominent university in the country.
Born in 1969, Peter Shannon began his musical education as a choirboy in Cork Cathedral, Ireland. As a Bachelor or Music student at University College Dublin and whilst singing baritone in the RTE National Chamber Choir he began studying conducting under the Irish conductor, Colman Pearce.
In Germany, he studied in Weimar at the Franz Liszt Hochschule fur Musik, founded by the great pianist and composer Franz Liszt himself. He later studied at the Karlsruhe Hoschule fur Musik, one of only a handful of German universities (including Heidelberg) which hold the official title of “elite” university.”
He graduated with the highest possible grade which can be awarded by the German State.
As a member of the “Dirigenten Forum” part of the German Arts Council whose function it is to sponsor an “especially talented” group for up-and-coming conductors, Shannon guest conducted orchestras such as the Gottingen Philharmonikier, Baden-Baden Philharmonie, Thuringen Philharmonic, Jena Philharmonie, Halle Philharmonisches Orchester, Rheinische Philharmonie and others.
Outside Germany, Peter Shannon has appeared as guest conductor with the Warsaw Radio Symphony Orchestra and the Pecs Symphony Orchestra in Hungary.
In 1998, he made his debut with the Irish Radio Concert Orchestra and in the following year with the Irish National Symphony. He has been invited back to work with both orchestras.
He has been a guest conductor at music festival in Norway, Italy, Germany and Denmark and in the summers of 2009-2011 he returned to Germany, Hungary and Holland as Artistic Director & Conductor of “Voices of Europe” a week-long festival of concerts by choirs of ethnic minorities from all over Europe.
Philharmonic News
2012-2013 Season Announcement
May 08, 2012
The Savannah Philharmonic is proud to announce the launch of its fourth concert season. Featuring several exciting changes, the 2012-2013 schedule includes eight large scale performances and four chamber concerts, along with several new event venues sure to please a broad range of audiences. » Read More