Peter Nowlen is named new Artistic Advisor of Music in the Mountains

The Music in the Mountains Board announced the appointment of Peter Nowlen, of Sacramento, CA, to be Artistic Advisor. Peter will work with the Board of Directors to fulfill the artistic mission of Music in the Mountains, preserve and enhance the quality of our performances, while responding to the wishes of our community. Working with Guest Conductors of the first order, Peter shares our commitment to continue to deserve the excellent community support we have enjoyed for the past 35 years.

Peter is a Pi Kappa Lambda graduate of Northwestern University.

Peter serves as Artistic Director for the Vita Academy in Sacramento, and has been a member of the University of California at Davis faculty since 1988 and the CSU Sacramento faculty since 1990. He was a member of the French horn section of the Sacramento Symphony from 1987 to 1996.

He is an active orchestral and chamber musician and an international solo prize winner. Horn performance credits include the San Francisco Symphony, Opera and Ballet orchestras, Symphony Silicon Valley, Sacramento Philharmonic and, the International Orchestra of Italy Opera, and has played Prinicipal French Horn for our own Music in the Mountains Summer Festival.

In 1992 he was a prize winner of the International Competition for Solo Horn of the Castle of Duino, Italy, and in 1994 was a semi-finalist in the prestigious American Horn Competition. Opera, ballet and theater conducting credits include La Boheme, Hansel und Gretel, Billy the Kid, L’Histoire du Soldat , Façade. Little Shop of Horrors, Falsettos and Company. Orchestral conducting credits include the Sacramento Symphony, UCD Symphony Orchestra, CSUS Symphony Orchestra, Camellia Symphony and Music in the Mountains. Pete has been the Director of Concert Bands at U. C. Davis since 2002.

“I’m excited to work even more closely with my good friends at Music in the Mountains to bring Nevada county exciting and engaging concert programs performed at the very highest professional level,” says Pete. “My goal is for Music in the Mountains to be at the very forefront of innovatively engaging communities and audiences with the classical music that I love.”

Peter and the Board of Directors are well into the planning our offerings for next year, to take full advantage of the talents that we have, from our own Choral Director Ryan Murray through and including our excellent Chorus and SummerFest Orchestra. In the meantime, look for the broad range of community activities we have coming in the Fall and Winter of this program year, including the Sierra Brewfest at the Nevada County Fairgrounds on August 24, the Designs for Living Home Tour coming on October 5, and the Holiday Concerts in December.

For the Board,
Sherry Bartolucci, President

Here are the first two students of Peter Nowlen — master hornist, instructor extraordinaire, and “all-around great guy” — when he joined the music dept. at CSUS as an instructor. “Pete, we were so fortunate to have you as our teacher, mentor, and friend,” they wrote.