Peter Opie
Associate Professor of Cello and Coordinator of Undergraduate Admissions and Scholarships
Peter Opie is associate professor of cello at Ball State University and cellist of the American Piano Trio. He has performed widely as a soloist and chamber musician in Europe, Asia, South America, and the United States.
Recent concerto performances include works by Beethoven, Brahms, Haydn, and Vivaldi with the Daegu Melos Ensemble in Korea, the Provintsia Chamber Orchestra in Russia, the Muncie Symphony Orchestra, Marion Philharmonic Orchestra, and Lake Charles Symphony Orchestra.
With the American Piano Trio he has performed at the Interlochen Arts Academy in Michigan, Oxford University, Yonsei University, Canterbury Christ Church University, Anglia Ruskin University, the Great Philharmonic Hall in Minsk, Belarus, Chunma Arts Center in Daegu, Korea, and in Russia as a guest artist at the "Eighth International Conservatoire Week" at the St. Petersburg Conservatory. He has also performed chamber music with Ida Kavafian, Paul Kantor, members of the Cleveland Orchestra, Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra, Atlanta Symphony Orchestra, Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra, the Chester String Quartet, and at the Tolyatti International Chamber Music Festival.
As an orchestral player he has worked with the Detroit Symphony Orchestra, Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra, Fort Wayne Philharmonic, and as guest principal with the Indianapolis Chamber Orchestra. He spent a summer as a fellow at the Tanglewood Music Festival, where he performed with the Boston Symphony Orchestra, and was also offered a fellowship to the Aspen Music Festival.
Formerly on the faculty of Eastern Michigan University, he has given cello and chamber music master classes at many universities and conservatoires around the world, including Oberlin Conservatory, Taiwan National University of the Arts, Kyunghee University, the Universidad Nacional de Bogota, and the Belarusian National Academy of Music, and the Indiana University String Academy. His students have won competitions, attended major festivals (Round Top, NRO, Aspen, Eastern) and have successfully auditioned to perform (either as a member or substitute) with numerous orchestras, including the St. Louis Symphony, Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra, New World Symphony (Miami), Civic Orchestra of Chicago, Columbus (OH) Symphony Orchestra, and Louisville Orchestra. He holds degrees from the Guildhall School of Music & Drama in London (BM), the Cleveland Institute of Music (MM), and the University of Michigan (DMA). His principal teachers have included Richard Aaron, Anthony Elliott, Oleg Kogan, and Raphael Sommer. Further studies were with Eleanore Schoenfeld and Marc Coppey.