Peter Dent
Peter Dent is a jazz pianist,
composer, choral arranger and choir conductor. He is based in
Victoria, British Columbia.
Jazz Pianist,
In
a career spanning 50 years, Peter Dent has worked with
and recorded with some of the finest jazz musicians in
Canada: Dave Young,
Neil Swainson, Steve Wallace, Terry Clarke, Archie
Allayne and P.J Perry. He worked regularly in past
decades with the big bands of Dal Richards, Mart Kenny
and the Preservation of Swing. Lorraine Foster, Dee
Daniels, Sibel Thrasher and Marcus Mosely are some of
the vocalists with whom he has performed and recorded.
He has appeared internationally in California, Cuba,
the UK, Prague, and Budapest. Over the
years he led groups at the All Canadian and
Brockville Jazz Festivals. 
In
Victoria he has played Hermann’s Jazz Club, The
Charlie White Theatre, The Alix Goolden Hall, The
Hotel Grand Pacific, and First Metropolitan United
Church. Peter was a regular solo pianist at the
Lure Lounge in the Delta Ocean Pointe for 4 years.
Choral
Conductor, 
A life-long choral singer, Peter took
up choral conducting in 1985 when he formed an adult a
cappella jazz ensemble, "Home Made Jam". In Vancouver, he
directed Jazz Etc., co-directed the Vivaldi Chamber Choir,
and was the founding musical director of the Pacific
Singers. Moving to Galiano Island, he started Coro Galiano
which continues. Upon moving to Victoria, he directed the
EKOOS vocal ensemble of Sooke for 5 years. He is the past
Music Director of the Arion Male Voice Choir and the current
director of the Newcombe
Singers located in Victoria. As a musical leader
and educator, he has led vocal workshops in Nova Scotia,
Quebec, Ontario, Alberta and British Columbia. He was a
guest juror at international choral competitions in Prague
in 2004 and 2007.
Singing and
Sightseeing Vacation Tours for the Amateur Chorister
Since 1998, Peter has been taking
singers to tour and perform in Central Europe. He is
currently music director for "Musica Semper Viva", a venture
sponsored by Club Tours Agentur of Prague. To make Canadian
winters a little easier to endure, in 2005 he began leading
choristers to the Caribbean and since 2009 has concentrated
exclusively on returning to Cuba each January, collaborating
with the band Sonora Jibacoa. In 2013, he developed an
association with Distinguished Concerts International of New
York (DCINY) enabling singers to experience the thrill of
performing in Carnegie Hall and the Lincoln Centre. These
tours provide a unique opportunity to combine singing and
sightseeing for individual choristers from across Canada and
the United States. Click on one of the links below for more
information.
Pop and Folk Singing Tour of
Cuba, February, 2019
Participants:
Click here for the sheet music for the songs we will be
singing.
Here are some songs from
past trips to Cuba.
Musica
Semper Viva - 2019
GERMAN, POLISH,
LATVIAN, LITHUANIAN, ESTONIAN AND
FINNISH TOUR – MAY 31-JUNE 18, 2019
Choral Singers New England - Canada Cruise Sept.
7-14, 2019
Composer/Arranger
Peter
Dent has a BA from York University and a Master of
Education degree from the University of British
Columbia. At UBC, he studied choral conducting with
James Fankhauser and arranging with Fred Stride. He also
studied with noted jazz arranger Phil Mattson. He is the
composer of two major choral works: A Jazz Mass (1993)
and A Canadian Requiem ( 2003) as well as several other
commercially published original works for choirs .
Recent compositions include "The Lost Lagoon" written
for the 50th anniversary of the Newcombe Singers and
"Everyone Sang" in celebration of the 125th Anniversary
of the Arion Male Voice Choir of Victoria. He did the
bulk of the choral arranging for the 2014 Arion CD
"Something to Sing About", featuring folk icons Shari
Ulrich and Valdy. He arranges all of the music for his
Cuban ventures.
Recordings:
Peter has produced several CD's. They
reflect his interest in fusing the rhythms of jazz with the
hymns of the church. While in Vancouver, he performed
regularly at the Jazz Vespers series at St. Andrews Wesley
United Church and did several national tours performing
material from his various CDs. - click on one of the
images below for more details.
Dent spent the academic year of 2007-2008 teaching advanced
jazz piano and conducting the University Choir at the Edna
Manley College in Kingston, Jamaica. He became a life member of
Victoria Local 247, Canadian Federation of Musicians, in April
of 2015.
For
more information contact Peter Dent
Nov 20/18