Peter Wells Recorder.

New Zealand born Peter Wells is the son of one of that country's most distinguished musicians and teachers; Guyon Wells OBE. He has played the recorder since the age of four, and studied full-time under David Coomber at the University of Auckland Conservatorium from 1986-1990. On graduation he became the first graduate in recorder performance from a New Zealand University and was awarded the Faculty of Music Senior Prize. After several years working as a freelance performer, teacher and choir-trainer he undertook postgraduate study with Reine-Marie Verhagen and Marion Verbruggen at the Utrecht School of the Arts in The Netherlands, with the assistance of a full scholarship from the Dutch Government through the Netherlands Organisation for International Co-operation in Higher Education (NUFFIC).

Peter Wells is a wide-ranging musician, active professionally as a bass singer, writer on musical topics, reviewer and adjudicator as well as a recorder player. His longest love affair is with the music of the 17th and 18th centuries, and he has performed New Zealand, The Netherlands, Ireland (North and South), The Czech Republic, Australia and the UK. He also specialises in the performance of contemporary music, in which area he is recognised as a spectacular and consummate performer. He has had numerous works written for him and his concerts regularly include world premieres, calling for anything from him alone, to sophisticated ensembles of live musicians, electronics, tape and computers. He is a permanent member of the contemporary ensemble Vox21 with whom he gives regular concerts. In solo contemporary repertoire his concerts produce "an extraordinarily compelling performance" combining "excellent programming, engaging presentation and bravura performance" (Music in New Zealand Magazine, Autumn issue 1999) and he has been described as "a player of the highest integrity" (The Irish News, Belfast) and "a true and persuasive virtuoso" (The Irish Times, Dublin).

Published writings include numerous CD booklet notes, concert critiques and reviews of new music publications, as well as articles on the interpretation and performance of baroque and contemporary recorder music in several magazines. He is also the general editor of Cecilia Editions, a publishing company producing practical editions of little known chamber music and choral music for the church.

Peter Wells teaches a class of recorder students at The Queen's University of Belfast, and is tutor of recorder at The University of Ulster and St Patrick's College in the National University of Ireland at Maynooth, all of which offer both postgraduate study and undergraduate courses in recorder. Additionally, he has given many enthusiastically received workshops and masterclasses in chamber music and interpretation of early music, as well as in aspects of contemporary music for recorder, both in the UK and abroad.

What the press says....

"Peter Wells sang, declaimed and did anything possible with the recorder, all with zestful style.... a true and persuasive virtuoso."
The Irish Times; 11 March 2000.

"When the performer is as technically virtuosic and theatrically aware as Peter Wells, any worries very quickly evaporate.... Wells seized on this theatrical element to give an extraordinarily compelling performance...able to gain enough dynamic contrast through sheer technical control.
...Through excellent programming, engaging presentation and bravura playing, Peter Wells must have converted those present to a renewed respect for the recorder as a serious contemporary instrument...having heard him excel in this repertoire one can only hope we also get the chance to hear him in Bach and other baroque composers."
Music in New Zealand Magazine; autumn 1999.

"Peter Wells has established a reputation as a player of the highest integrity. This latest recital sustained his position.
...this showed that the recorder can stand proudly alongside the other woodwind instruments. Wells demonstrated the full range of the instrument, as well as the breadth of his formidable technique.... The audience had a chance to smile, not only at the lighter style, but at Wells' incredible versatility. The recorder, played like this, deserves to be heard by big audiences."
The Irish News; 17 April 1998.

"The small instrumental ensemble consisted of a couple each of violins, oboes and recorders, cello, bass and harpsichord. The star here was Peter Wells whose virtuoso recorder playing was wonderfully executed"
The Irish News; 10 November 1997.

"The accomplished recorder playing of New Zealand-born Peter Wells was the last concert, and one of the high points, of the six-month-long Bank of Ireland Mostly Modern series...Wells' playing brimmed with energy and purpose, and conveyed clearly the lucid processes of Psyche by Ireland's Fergus Johnston. He caught impeccably the flavour of two Dutch pieces from the 1960s, Muziek voor altblokfluit by Rob DuBois and Sweet by Louis Andriessen, their calculated anarchy like a 1960s "happening""
The Irish Times (Dublin); 9 April 1997.

He now shares his time between Andalucía and Dublin.