Career Highlights

EDUCATION: Peter Mathews was born in Vancouver, British Columbia in 1944 and studied violin from age 6, and piano from age 12 under the Toronto Conservatory system. His early piano training was with Edward Parker, of the renowned Parker family of Canadian pianists. In 1963-64 he studied in England with Morris Taylor, one of the last students of Dame Myra Hess, and received a Licentiate Diploma in Piano Performance at the Royal Academy of Music, London. His undergraduate degree in Music and History is from Andrews University in Berrien Springs, Michigan. Graduate studies include both a Master of Music and Doctor of Musical Arts in Conducting from the University of Missouri in Kansas City where he worked with Eph Ehly.

COMPOSITION: Dr. Mathews has written about 200 compositions. While composing music for worship, his commissions from many parts of the United States and Canada have included choral and chamber music with voices and instruments in varying combinations. He also has a series of attractive works for solo instruments and organ featuring the cello, violin, clarinet and harp. Specific pieces can be seen and heard in the “List of Works.” Favorite choral works are: Come Down, O Love Divine for brass, SATB and organ (1982); O sacrum convivium! for unaccompanied SATB (1985); Missa brevis for SATB and organ (1988); Jubilate Deo for SA and piano (1994); Pray for the Peace of Jerusalem for unaccompanied SATB (1995); God Is Our Refuge and Strength for SATB and organ (2001); Magnificat and Nunc dimittis for SA and organ (2007). Popular instrumental works are: Aquarelle for piano solo (1969); Quartet in 3 mvts. for clarinet, violin, cello and piano (1972); Psalm 84 for violin, soprano and piano (1989); Pastorale for clarinet and organ (1993); Last Song of Summer from Four Seasons for cello and organ (1986-99); Three Hymns for harp and organ (2005); Suite française for harp and organ (2017). Mathews has also composed 50 art songs which were written between 1964 and 2012. He considers them to be among his best work and they embody his compositional ideal that music should have beauty, pathos and power.

PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE: From 1977-1982 he was the Composer-in-Residence at Grace and Holy Trinity Episcopal Cathedral under John Schaefer in Kansas City. As a male alto, he has sung in the Early Music Consort of Kansas City and in various cathedral churches. From 1984-95, he conducted the Florida Hospital Chorus in Orlando, and from that came the inspiration for a chamber choir, Orlando XIII (1994-2003). The last eleven years of his 40-year church choir conducting career ended in 2010 where he served as Choirmaster for St. Barnabas Episcopal Church in DeLand, Florida. In his last teaching position from 2006-2014 he taught Music Appreciation, Music History, Form & Analysis and Orchestration at the University of North Florida in Jacksonville.

As a conductor and workshop clinician, Dr. Mathews conducted (a commissioned work, “Song of the Three Young Men” for SATB, brass and organ) at the 1993 Southeast Regional Convention of the American Guild of Organists. The 1994 Episcopal Diocese of Central Florida Choir Festival also featured the composer in this dual capacity. He was awarded the anthem commission in 1999 for the 49th Annual Sewanee Church Music Conference, long recognized for excellence by the Episcopal Church Standing Commission on Church Music. In January 2000 he conducted two commissioned choral premières at St. Paul’s Episcopal Church, Augusta, Georgia as part of their 250th anniversary celebration. A fanfare for brass and organ and an anthem were commissioned for the 150th anniversary of the First Congregational Church in St. Joseph, Michigan in 2004.

COLLABORATIONS AND RECORDINGS: For many years the music of Peter Mathews was regularly performed at the Cathedral Church of St. Luke, Orlando, Florida under the direction of the late Ben Lane and Claire Hodge. In 2005 he completed a two-part treble Missa brevis setting for their childrens’ choirs and organ for their European tour during the Christmas season. The same venue saw the première of his Magnificat and Nunc dimittis in 2007 for the 20th anniversary of the Orlando Deanery Girls Choir conducted by Hazel Somerville, founder of the choir. In 2023 he wrote a setting of “All Things Bright and Beautiful” for harp and organ for Ensemble Lafayette.

Commissioned works of Peter Mathews gained exposure through live performance and compact disc projects for the choirs of Edith Ho (Church of the Advent, Boston), Anton Armstrong (St. Olaf College) and David Brensinger (Atlanta Singers). The 1994 Florida All-State High School Chorus, Boston’s Youth Pro Musica, DePauw University, Stetson University, Christ Church Cathedral, Montreal and the Vancouver Chamber Choir have included works by Peter Mathews on their CDs and in their choirs’ concerts and tours. His liturgical music was featured in June 2000 at the Regional Convention of the National Association of Pastoral Musicians held in Orlando. In 2006, the Centaur label issued a CD with his “Four Seasons” for cello and organ, performed by Donald Moline, Chicago Symphony cellist, and Holy Name Cathedral organist Ricardo Ramirez. His “Intermezzo” has also been recorded by the Murray-Lohuis Duo in their CD series in Volume 5, “All American Works for Violin and Organ” by Raven Recordings. German/Canadian saxophonist, Claudia Tesorino, and Montreal-based organist, Jonathan Oldengarm, recorded “Pastorale” for clarinet (or saxophone) and organ for their 2020 CD “Canadian Landscapes.”

“Ubi caritas” for SATB and organ was commissioned for the installation of the bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Central Florida in 2012. In 2015 and 2017 “Fantaisie” and “Passacaille” for harp and organ were commissioned and performed by Lafayette Square Duo, St. John’s Church, Lafayette Square, D.C. A setting of “Arise, Shine” for TB and organ was written for the men of the Episcopal Cathedral in Orlando to commemorate their summer tour to Canterbury Cathedral. Mathews was commissioned in 2018 by the St. Augustine, Florida, Community Chorus for a setting of “What Sweeter Music” for their 70th anniversary. His “Te Deum” was sung in Orlando at the installation of the new bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Central Florida in 2023.

PUBLISHERS: Dr. Mathews’ compositions have been published by Alliance, Choristers Guild, H.W. Gray, Lauren Kaiser, Kjos, Lawson-Gould, Lorenz, MorningStar, Southern Music Company and St. James Music Press. All the unpublished works have been engraved by the composer and are available upon request. Many of his compositions can be heard on YouTube.

TOURS OF FRANCE: His interest in French culture has taken him on many bike trips with his partner, Eric Jump, to study the cathedrals and great churches of France. Some photos from these trips are being shared on this Web site in the hope of giving pleasure to those already familiar with these magnificent monuments and to those discovering them for the first time.

For additional information or to arrange commissions, please contact:
Dr. Peter Mathews
126 Timber Lane, Palatka, FL 32177 • Tel. (386) 312-0001
E-Mail: Roundlake126@aol.com