Lewis E. “Pete” Peterman, Jr

Building/Location

5500 Campanile Drive
San Diego, CA 92182

Bio

A versatile educator with diverse interests, Dr. Lewis “Pete” Peterman taught and performed early and non-Western music and served as director of musicology and ethnomusicology graduate programs at SDSU. Peterman earned a B.A. from SDSU, an M.M. from Northwestern University, and a Ph.D. in Musicology from the University of Cincinnati. Initially a specialist in early music performance and history (particularly on winds, viols, and percussion), Peterman became a skilled performer and expert of a variety of global music traditions. 

Peterman has lectured and performed recitals in Europe, Asia, Canada, Mexico, South America, the Pacific, and across the United States. He has published scholarly works in both musicology and ethnomusicology and has several early music recordings to his credit, including The Age of Chivalry, Mission Music of California, and The Jazz Minstrels. Since 1973 he has studied, taught, and performed traditional music from Asian and African cultures, including those of Bali, Java, Sumatra, India, Iran, China, Japan, Korea, Ghana, and Zimbabwe. Since 1980 he has conducted over 60 research trips to India, the Middle East, East Asia, Southeast Asia, Africa, Europe, Polynesia, the Caribbean, Mexico, South America, and more than a dozen Native-American reservations of the American Southwest. A passionate advocate for global arts and access to education, Peterman also volunteered for over thirty years at the San Diego-based Center for World Music, including serving as the organization’s president for 10 years.