Peter Tregear studied at the University of Melbourne and subsequently undertook doctoral studies at King’s College, University of Cambridge. In 2000 he was appointed a Fellow of Fitzwilliam College, Cambridge where he was Lecturer and Director of Music. A regular performer in opera and oratorio, he also directed a number of historic revivals and premieres of operatic and instrumental works, including a critically acclaimed UK stage premiere of Max Brand’s Maschinist Hopkins in 2001.
Peter was invited to return to Australia in 2006 to take up the position of Dean of Trinity College, University of Melbourne. He has subsequently taught at the University of Melbourne and the Australian National Academy of Music, worked with both Victorian Opera and Melbourne Opera, and performed with the Tallis Scholars as part of their Australian tour in 2007. In that same year, with Gert Reifarth, he established the innovative chamber opera company IOpera and he regularly appears with the Consort of Melbourne, which he co-directs with Warren Trevelyan-Jones, and the Choir of London. In 2007 he was invited to lecture and perform in East Jerusalem as part of the Palestine Mozart Festival, returning there in 2009 as producer and cast member of a touring production of La Boheme, and again in 20111. Other major engagements include conducting a season of the eighteenth-century opera Erwin und Elmire for the Ekhof-Festival in Gotha, Germany, worked with the Kronos Quartet in the premiere performances of Terry Riley’s Sun Rings for the Melbourne Festival in 2011, and has collaborated with the Australian Chamber Orchestra on several recent projects, including their Barry Humphries' Weimar Cabaret tour (Australia and UK), and the multi-media project 'The Crowd'. In November 2010 Peter was appointed Executive Director of the Academy of Performing Arts, Monash University, and in August 2012 he was appointed Professor and Head of the School of Music of the Australian National University. In 2015 he returned to the UK to a Teaching Fellowship at Royal Holloway, University of London, and in 2020 he took up the position of Dean of St Mark's College, Adelaide. He continues to work in both Australia and in Europe as a singer, conductor, and writer. In addition, Peter has been working with violinist and entrepreneur Simon Hewitt Jones to develop on-line tools for musicians, which has culminated in the launch of http://www.violinschool.org. He is also the founding Chair of the AMF Australia Foundation, which supports the education of young Australian musicians overseas.
Tregear's academic work is broadly concerned with how we can better understand music in its historical and cultural context, and how performers, scholars, and educators can exploit the connections between music as an object of intellectual inquiry and music as creative practice. He has particular interests in the musical culture of the Weimar republic, and the generation of musicians whose careers and lives were ruined by the rise of Fascism in Europe. He has also written on the role of musical culture in America after 9/11 and the politics underscoring Hollywood film scores. He has published widely in academic journals and the popular press, as well as being a frequent contributor of public lectures and essays for the ABC, the Australian Chamber Orchestra and Melbourne Symphony Orchestra. He is also a regular reviewer and correspondent for The Conversation and Australian Book Review. Tregear's most recent books are Ernst Krenek and the Politics of Musical Style, published by Scarecrow Press (USA), and the Platform Paper Enlightenment or Entitlement: Rethinking Tertiary Music Education, published by Currency House.
Awards include the Sir Charles Mackerras Conducting Prize (UK) in 2003, Green Room Award (Best Conductor, Opera) in 2008, and the Medal of the Order of Australia (OAM) in 2020.
Peter was invited to return to Australia in 2006 to take up the position of Dean of Trinity College, University of Melbourne. He has subsequently taught at the University of Melbourne and the Australian National Academy of Music, worked with both Victorian Opera and Melbourne Opera, and performed with the Tallis Scholars as part of their Australian tour in 2007. In that same year, with Gert Reifarth, he established the innovative chamber opera company IOpera and he regularly appears with the Consort of Melbourne, which he co-directs with Warren Trevelyan-Jones, and the Choir of London. In 2007 he was invited to lecture and perform in East Jerusalem as part of the Palestine Mozart Festival, returning there in 2009 as producer and cast member of a touring production of La Boheme, and again in 20111. Other major engagements include conducting a season of the eighteenth-century opera Erwin und Elmire for the Ekhof-Festival in Gotha, Germany, worked with the Kronos Quartet in the premiere performances of Terry Riley’s Sun Rings for the Melbourne Festival in 2011, and has collaborated with the Australian Chamber Orchestra on several recent projects, including their Barry Humphries' Weimar Cabaret tour (Australia and UK), and the multi-media project 'The Crowd'. In November 2010 Peter was appointed Executive Director of the Academy of Performing Arts, Monash University, and in August 2012 he was appointed Professor and Head of the School of Music of the Australian National University. In 2015 he returned to the UK to a Teaching Fellowship at Royal Holloway, University of London, and in 2020 he took up the position of Dean of St Mark's College, Adelaide. He continues to work in both Australia and in Europe as a singer, conductor, and writer. In addition, Peter has been working with violinist and entrepreneur Simon Hewitt Jones to develop on-line tools for musicians, which has culminated in the launch of http://www.violinschool.org. He is also the founding Chair of the AMF Australia Foundation, which supports the education of young Australian musicians overseas.
Tregear's academic work is broadly concerned with how we can better understand music in its historical and cultural context, and how performers, scholars, and educators can exploit the connections between music as an object of intellectual inquiry and music as creative practice. He has particular interests in the musical culture of the Weimar republic, and the generation of musicians whose careers and lives were ruined by the rise of Fascism in Europe. He has also written on the role of musical culture in America after 9/11 and the politics underscoring Hollywood film scores. He has published widely in academic journals and the popular press, as well as being a frequent contributor of public lectures and essays for the ABC, the Australian Chamber Orchestra and Melbourne Symphony Orchestra. He is also a regular reviewer and correspondent for The Conversation and Australian Book Review. Tregear's most recent books are Ernst Krenek and the Politics of Musical Style, published by Scarecrow Press (USA), and the Platform Paper Enlightenment or Entitlement: Rethinking Tertiary Music Education, published by Currency House.
Awards include the Sir Charles Mackerras Conducting Prize (UK) in 2003, Green Room Award (Best Conductor, Opera) in 2008, and the Medal of the Order of Australia (OAM) in 2020.