Started work on a book of preludes for solo bandura called "The Lviv Preludes". Each of the six preludes will be about a specific place in Lviv, and try to capture in music the feeling of the place.

The six preludes will be:

Prospekt Svobody

High Castle

St. George's on the Hill

The Shevchenko Monument

Rynok Square

Twilight at Lychakivsky Cemetary



The preludes are be written for renowned bandurist Victor Mishalow, and will also be published in Ukraine.

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Palisades Symphony performs "Of Bleakness & Humour" on March 25, @ 7:30pm at Palisades High School. It is the premier of the new composition featuring soloist Emily Senchuk and Jonna Carter.

Program Notes:

"Of Bleakness and Humour – Concerto for Two Flutes and Orchestra" is a musical homage to the music of the great Central European composer Gyorgy Ligeti. The title "Of Bleakness and Humour" is taken from the title of Mr. Ligeti's recent obituary in the New York Times by Paul Griffiths. The piece is not meant to imitate Ligeti's music, but the careful study and appreciation of his music has served as a point of departure for many of the musical ideas of the concerto. Ligeti is usually identified with his dense, textural, slow moving pieces such as "Atmospheres" and "Lux Aeterna" (best known from the soundtrack of "2001: A Space Odyssey), however many of his works have a much lighter and playful side such as "Adventures" and "Six Bagatelles for Wind Quintet". The concerto's two movements draw on these two extremes. The first movement begins with a single tone (D) in the tubular bells, which is picked up by the solo C flute and solo alto flute, and expanded upon in their extended melodic phrases. The orchestral accompaniment is harmonically static allowing the solo flute lines to push and pull away from the opening tone, but always drawing them back to it. As the movement progresses, the orchestra begins to break away harmonically permitting the flutes to lead the music farther away from the opening tone. Their journey however ultimately ends where they started, rooted in the initial D. The second movement features two solo C flutes with fast moving virtuosic passages and a cadenza. The orchestral accompaniment is impish and agile piecing together pizzicato string textures with syncopated jazz inspired rhythms. This movement is meant to contrast the darker quality of the first movement, with a humorous spirit that does not take itself too seriously. It ends the piece in character with a flourish of dazzling running notes in the solo flutes.

Open Plan Films launches their new web series "SLUG".

You can view the first episode at: www.YouTube.com/OpenPlanFilms

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SLUG
"You, me and the H.O.V."
- A comedy web series from Open Plan Films -

Meet a ragtag bunch of Slugs, looking for a free ride from drivers needing an extra passenger to drive in the carpool lane. The first timer, the regular, and a bad comedian, Zipper.

SLUG is a web series produced by Open Plan Films.

Written and Directed by:
Jen Prince, Alyson Shelton & Cody Shelton

Music by:
Peter Senchuk
(http://www.myspace.com/petersenchuk)

Camera:
Elizabeth Santoro
(http://www.myspace.com/madlizzy)

Starring:
Episode One -
Michael Cotter "Mike"
Tracey Rooney "Anika"
Manuel Bermudez "Manuel"
Dorothy Sinclair "Tippy"
Alex Staggs "Zipper"
Shane Lubojacky "The Mustachioed Man"

Peter's score to "Eve of Understanding" was honored with a Silver Medal for Best Use of Music in a Feature Film at the 2007 Park City Film Music Festival. Peter attended the festival in beautiful Park City UT. The festival honors original music in independent film and runs concurrent with the Sundance Film Festival. Peter's score to the "The Five Stages of Beer" was also awarded a Gold Medal at the festival in 2004.

Peter's Ukrainian heritage has always been an important theme in his life and music. Speaking only Ukrainian until the age of 5, he grew up surrounded by family and friends who taught him the beauty of this sometimes overlooked culture. His grandparents all fled Ukraine to escape oppression and make a better life for their families in Canada. His family celebrates this heritage through language, religion, dance, cuisine, art and music. In 2003, Peter was honored to meet and begin working with world renowned Bandurist Victor Mishalow. The Bandura is the national instrument of Ukraine and Victor is recognized as the foremost performer and scholar of the instrument. Peter composed his first piece for solo Bandura: "Baba's Song" in 2004. He has plans for more Bandura pieces, including a concerto for the International Bandura Competion held every 2 years in Kharkiv, Ukraine.
Peter has also utilized Ukrainian folk melodies in many of his concert compositions such as "Three Pysanky" for woodwind quintet and "Ukrainian Winter Carol" for Sopilka (a traditional Ukrainian flute) and flute orchestra. His piece "Voices of the Silenced", which was premiered by the Pacific Palisades Symphony Winds in March of 2006, is piece dedicated to his great uncle who was killed by the Soviets in the village of Nestanichi, in Western Ukraine. The piece uses folk melodies intertwined with Peter's unique compositional style to tell the story of this event, and of the Ukrainian people and their culture which has been threatened by many groups throughout history. In the summer of 2006, Peter traveled to Ukraine with his wife Emily and his parents Bohdan and Haila. It was an emotional journey in which he visited both villages that his grandfathers were born and raised in. You can see pictures of him at the memorial in Nestanichi, which commemorates the deaths of his great uncle and the other Ukrainian freedom fighters from this village, as well as Peter in the cities of Lviv and Kyiv and the village of Richka in the Carpathian Mountains. He drew great inspiration from the wonderful people and places he discovered on this trip, and hopes to visit again soon.

In February of 2006 Peter attended the Sedona Film Festival for the premiere of "Eve of Understanding". Sedona was a location for several scenes in the movie and many of the great people involved with the making of this film were in attendance. You can see pictures of Peter with the writer/director Alyson Shelton, producer Jen Prince, editor Cody Shelton and others from the cast and crew at the screening and cast party, on his pics page.

Peter has written several original charts and arrangements for the Los Angeles Flute Orchestra. The LAFO is a 12 member professional ensemble comprised of Los Angeles based flutists. What makes this group unique is that it features the entire flute family of instruments: Piccolo, C Flute, Alto Flute, Bass Flute, F Bass Flute, Contra Bass Flute, and the extremely rare Double-Contra Bass Flute. The group most recently performed his "Ukrainian Winter Carol" at their Dec. 2006 Holiday Concert. In 2005, Peter's latin jazz composition "Under the Sun" was featured on their recording 'The Stroke of Twelve'. You can hear this piece on their website: www.losangelesfluteorchestra.com and you can purchase the arrangement and cd online at Flute World: www.fluteworld.com Pictures of Peter with the group and all their flutes are also on his pics page.