Biography
The London debut of accordionist Joseph Petric – “A performer of miraculous power and understated mastery” (Winnipeg Sun) – was an artistic offering acclaimed by The Independent, while his American debut merited a citation in “Performances of the Year” by the Washington Post’s Joseph D. McLellan. Mr. Petric’s systematic trajectory across the Classical concert hall comprises solo appearances at Seiji Ozawa Hall, Berlin Philharmonie, Wigmore Hall, Bunkai Kaikan, Merkin Hall, Huddersfield, Hohenems Schubertiade, ScotiaFest, Belfast Festival, Montreal New Music, NMC, SMCQ, IRCAM, Manchester Hallé, Domaine Forget, Franz Berwald Hall, Tel Aviv Opera, and the Walt Disney Concert Hall. Mr. Petric is also a strategic advocate for new creation, having commissioned 360 new works for the accordion canon, curatorial initiatives that have been compared to the artistic stewardship of the Kronos Quartet and London Sinfonietta.
The dedicatee of 20 concertos, Mr. Petric made his concerto debut with the Toronto Symphony under Jukka Pekka Saraste and it launched his concerto-led career that had him performing three concertos in one night with the Victoria Symphony. Notable collaborations include his microtonal Deep Listening duo with Pauline Oliveros (1985-96), and his work with Witold Lutoslawski, John Cage, David Tudor, the Penderecki String Quartet, Colin Tilney, Jocelyn Morlock, Bekah Simms, the Canadian Electronic Ensemble and the Nouvel Ensemble Moderne.
“An extraordinary performer, Petric was eloquent in the most offbeat, moving and nostalgic of all the Sequenzas” (Boston Globe) at Tanglewood’s presentation of the complete Berio Sequenzas by the Boston Symphony players. His comprehensive discography of 97 recordings including 42 CDs on 17 labels ranges from thematic albums of J.S. Bach, Rameau, and Haydn to concerto, chamber and electro-acoustic innovations in “stunning, powerhouse performances” (Fanfare).
A historian, writer, and reviewer, Mr. Petric has contributed to the literature enkindling a risorgimento of a fully contextualized accordion. This began for a wide international readership with his advocacy of Giovanni Gagliardi’s forgotten 1911 Paris treatise Le Petit Manual de l’Accordéoniste. He maintains a full concert and recording calendar, and is professor and thesis supervisor of graduate accordion performance at the Faculté de Musique, Université de Montréal (Québec).