Artists

Riley M. H. Peters, composer

Riley M.H. Peters (b. 2007) is a contemporary composer and pianist from Chester, Virginia. His studies in music started at age ten with private piano lessons. In sixth grade, he enrolled in Chorus at Carver Middle School, a course he pursued throughout all three years.

After being exposed to “Noteflight”, an online notation software and sheet music marketplace owned by Hal Leonard, he found he had a passion for composition. In eighth grade, he taught himself basic theory, voice leading, and counterpoint by listening to Bach’s preludes and fugues on YouTube and following along with the score.

Later that same year, he was accepted into the Orchestra division at Thomas Dale High School’s Specialty Center for the Arts program, which enrolls talented musicians, artists, dancers, and writers from across Chesterfield County. He was the only pianist in recent memory to apply and gain admission.

In ninth grade, he taught himself orchestration by studying Rachmaninoff, most notably “The Isle of the Dead”, as well as the works of Ravel and Elgar. He also began writing music for his fellow students’ recitals, mostly works for piano and solo instruments, with him playing the accompaniment.

During the summer of 2023, he gained the attention of Dr. Timothy Thompson, a professor of music theory at VSU, who invited him to campus to give advice and critique on a few of his works. Similarly, his orchestra teacher, Christina Sienkiewicz, referred him to Mrs. Hope Armstrong Erb, a renowned composer, conductor, director, and pianist who began mentoring him through weekly lessons at her house in Richmond. At this time, he switched to Sibelius as a notation software, to better accommodate the breadth of his output.

His oeuvre (over four hundred works, mostly from his middle school years) consists of waltzes for solo piano, works for symphonic band and orchestra, and everything in between. Although he takes the most inspiration from Rachmaninoff, Atterberg, Ravel, Liszt, Chopin, and Dvořák, his tastes range from Purcell to Penderecki to whatever happens to be playing on the radio.

As of May 2024, Mr. Peters is a junior at Thomas Dale. This summer, he will be one of seven high school students from across the country attending Brevard Summer Music Institute for the study of composition, with the help of a substantial merit-based and work-study scholarship. There, he will have three pieces performed, and devote countless hours improving his musicianship and meeting new friends.

Riley lives with both parents, his younger sister, and two dogs. In his free time, he enjoys all things music, playing golf, eating, watching sports, and spending time with friends and family. His compositions are most readily available on his YouTube channel; http://bit.ly/3WMmokl