"Nothing worthwhile doing is easy, yet guitar newcomers are often led to believe that they can 'master the guitar' in a few short months.

Unfortunately this impression comes about from the popular music use and commercial representation of the guitar.

One cannot begin to scratch the surface of a body of knowledge that has taken some 500 years of tradition and instrumental development to get to where it is today in a short period of time."

(Peter A-M blogs)

"And then he, in true Mark Knopfler mode, got to display his guitar wizardry with awesome solos."

(Xpress Magazine, critique on The Howling Desperados)

Biography

As a person passionate about most traditions of the guitar, I am pleased to help you on your journey with music and the guitar. The biography below will give you more information about my history and experiences in music.

Born in Melbourne, Peter Altmeier-Mort has been a professional musician and guitarist for over 35 years in Australia and Europe. Formally trained in Western Art music, Jazz, Contemporary music styles, and Music Teaching (B.Mus, Dip. Edcn, DSCM, Dip.Mus, Cert IV Trainer/Assessor), he is also a multi-instrumentalist and active in a wide range of musical areas that include composition, arranging, studio session work, writing/publishing, and music education.

During the 1970s, his formative years on the classical guitar began with what became a lifelong student/teacher/mentor relationship with the Segovian disciple, Antonio Losada in Sydney. In 1979 he moved to Europe to live, and pursued further study of the classical guitar as a rising talent with the great Spanish maestros Narciso Yepes in Madrid, and later Jose Tomas in Alicante.

At the same time, Peter worked to establish himself on the “young professionals’ circuit”, the Guitar Societies of Europe. He gave his European debut recital at Sunderland (Newcastle-on-Tyne) in the UK, 1981. He then became a recipient of the Australia Council’s International Fellowship Grant for overseas study, and continued his studies whilst giving performances in the UK, Holland, and Spain. In 1983, his return to Sydney was prompted by invitations to tour, record broadcasts, and give master-classes in both New Zealand and Australia.

Following his appointment as the Lecturer-in-Guitar at the WA Conservatorium of Music (WAAPA*) in 1984, he moved to Perth. This was also a period when behind these scenes (“in a back room of my house”), his experimental compositions for classical guitar were being blended with electronic music. One of these works, the evocative “Music For An Exhibition”, (written for an exhibition by prominent Australian artist Peter Kendall) was first featured on ABC National Radio’s “The Australian Music Show” in 1988. Always interested in programming new modern compositions by others too, he formed enduring relationships over time with several Australian composers writing for guitar; Phillip Houghton, James Penberthy, and Gary Rutledge to name a few.

In the late 1980’s he returned to Sydney to complete the writing and research for a book he had begun whilst at the WA Conservatorium. His first major publication, the now widely acclaimed tutor book The Art of Classical Guitar Vol.I was released in 1989. In subsequent years this series has expanded with two more volumes, and he has authored other collections of books including the popular Guitar for Kidz series.

In the decade of the 1990’s Peter followed his long-term interest and passion for creative and improvised music in various ensemble forms and genres. He returned to Perth again to continue jazz studies with Australian jazz legend, Graeme Lyall. Performing in Jazz ensembles, World Music groups, Latin trios, and original Contemporary music bands, he developed an extensive instrumental technique using the classical guitar, the electric guitar, the steel string acoustic, the slide guitar, the mandolin, and the tenor banjo in order to understand the traditions of various improvised musics. In a book interview he said of this musical journey, “It is just a different way of making music; technique is often kind of informal, and determined by what you can newly invent and express yourself with on the instrument –and from this, the individual’s voice hopefully becomes a reality”.
 
This was also a prolific time in his composition and arranging activities. Besides the dozens of smaller original pieces being written for the book series “The Art of Classical Guitar” and “Guitar for Kidz”, there came a broad variety of compositions and arrangements that reflected his ever-widening sphere of musical involvement. Of these, there are some on the record that received public performances or were intermittently recorded and include works for tuned-percussion ensemble, saxophone quartet, clarinet duets, guitar/flute duets, small jazz ensemble, jazz piano-trio and strings, Big Band, symphony orchestra and Big Band, and sound-track arrangements for short film. In 1998 he won the WA Music Industry Award for the “Best Jazz Composition” category (“What Do You Wanna Be”), and has been nominated for the same award in several successive years.   

Since this time, he has recorded and/or performed consistently with various professional ensembles as leader, guest artist, or member, and include; “Crush” (Latin trio), “The Savoir Faire Jazz Quintet” (swing group), “Gypsy Masala” (flamenco-based fusion), “Chicago Swing” (Trad.jazz), “Black Grapelli” (Gypsy jazz), the “WA Youth Jazz Orchestra” (Big Band), “Indigo Duck” (Blues), and “The Howling Desperados” (original country rock). He has been acknowledged by the music industry as one of those few guitarists who can genuinely perform a wide variety of musical genres on different types of guitar at the complete professional level.

Now residing in Perth, he has become increasingly involved with music education in recent years, teaching both classical and contemporary guitar at many private and public-system schools. He currently works for the WA Education Department’s “School of Instrumental Music”, and is a consultant to the WA Curriculum Council developing and writing new music courses for WA secondary schools. He also operates his own publishing business “Westside Music”, and continues performing, writing music, and researching new publications for guitar students.

Compiled by Graham C. Rawlins.

*WAAPA = the Western Australian Academy of Performing Arts (Edith Cowan University Campus)