Minnesota native Joseph Peters, Associate Principal Oboe and English horn with the North Carolina Symphony, previously held Principal Oboe chairs with the Minnesota Orchestra and Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra. He has performed as guest principal with the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra, The Florida Orchestra, and the Quad City Symphony Orchestra, and he has also played with the Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra, Marlboro Music Festival, Oregon Bach Festival, Lakes Area Music Festival, National Repertory Orchestra and the National Orchestral Institute. For three years he was a member of the New World Symphony in Florida.
Peters first appeared with the Minnesota Orchestra at age 18 as a finalist in the Minnesota Idol competition, performing Mozart’s Oboe Concerto. As a soloist, he has also appeared with the Detroit Symphony Orchestra, New World Symphony, Metropolitan Symphony Orchestra, Saint Paul Civic Symphony, Wayzata Symphony Orchestra, and the Greater Twin Cities Youth Symphonies, of which he is an alumnus.
As a conductor, Peters leads the Taneycomo Festival Orchestra in Branson, Missouri and is the Interim Conductor of the Triangle Youth Symphony. He was Music Director of the SUNY Buffalo State Philharmonia Orchestra and the Saybrook College Orchestra of Yale. He has conducted Holiday Pops concerts at the North Carolina Symphony and is a frequent guest at the New World Symphony, where he has led diverse programs including children's concerts, chamber opera and a collaboration with the Miami City Ballet. He recently conducted a performance of Henze’s Kammermusik 1958 at Marlboro Music Festival. His conducting mentors include Michael Tilson Thomas, James Patrick Miller and Toshiyuki Shimada.
Peters has been on the oboe or conducting faculty of institutions including the National Youth Orchestra of the USA, SUNY Buffalo State, SoBe Institute of the Arts, and has conducted side-by-side concerts for New World Symphony’s MusicLab program. An advocate of contemporary music, he premiered Aaron Jay Kernis’ On Distant Shores with New York’s RIOULT Dance Company, and he has been involved in numerous other premieres by composers including Jocelyn Hagen and Samuel Carl Adams.
Peters received a Bachelor of Music degree from the University of Minnesota and a Master of Music from Yale University. His teachers include Stephen Taylor, John Snow, Julie Madura and Marilyn Zupnik.