In 2008, GMSI was pleased to welcome Dr. Peter Hamlin as our Composer-in-Residence.

Peter Hamlin is a member of the music faculty at Middlebury College since 2004. Dr. Hamlin earned his Ph.D. at the Eastman School of Music where he studied composition with Joseph Schwantner and Samuel Adler. His masters studies were with Peter Michaelides at the University of Northern Iowa, and his undergraduate composition teacher at Middlebury College was George Todd. He was previously on the faculty at St. Olaf College in Minnesota (1992-2004).

Dr. Hamlin's music includes works for orchestra, band and wind ensemble, and choir. He has music for a children's musical and an electronic opera based on Edgar Allen Poe's The Masque of the Red Death. Recent commissions have come from the Vermont Symphony Orchestra and the Vermont Contemporary Music Ensemble and recent recordings of his work have been made by the male choir Cantus. Hamlin also has a strong interest in electronic music and has written numerous pieces for that medium as well as performing and recording with the live electronic improv band Data Stream.

Awards for his work have included a Parents' Choice National Gold Award for children's media, the McCurdy Prize, Louis Lane Prize, the Kenneth Davenport National Orchestral Prize, and an Amadeus Choir of Toronto Christmas Carol Award.

Before teaching, Dr. Hamlin was a radio documentary and feature producer in San Diego (1974-1980) and hosted his own classical music program in Iowa (1980-1990). He has also hosted numerous programs on Iowa Public Television since 1981, and continues to work for them occasionally, including appearances as a field reporter for IPTV's annual coverage of the Iowa State Fair.

Christina Koller, a student from the Vermont MIDI Project, was our student composer in 2008. new piece developed under the mentorship of Erik Nielsen and Dr. Hamlin. Details will be posted here when available.

Vermont Composers Initiative Home Page

Information about the 2007 VCI experience

Information about the 2005 and 2006 VCI experiences.