Artist Interview: Peter Xifaras

Renowned composer, guitarist, and producer Peter Xifaras is celebrated for his genre-defying mastery, seamlessly moving between classical, jazz, cinematic, and contemporary works. His compositions have graced hundreds of radio stations, remained in SiriusXM rotation for over a decade, and climbed to the top of the Billboard Classical and Crossover charts. Among his many accolades are the American Prize in composition, a Telly Award, and an Accolade Global Film Humanitarian Award for his orchestral release Children of Conflict. His music often features collaborations with accomplished guest artists, and his creative reach spans from the concert hall to the film scoring stage.We got the chance to catch up with Peter and ask these questions:

Was there something or someone who was the "catalyst" for you to go into music? My older Brother was playing guitar which was the catalyst for me to also get into it. Even though I was a rock & roller at the time, I ended up going to college with a major in Classical Guitar performance which led to a variety of teaching gigs, recital performances, etc.

Let's get this out of the way. What is the craziest thing that has ever happened in your music career? One time we were doing a rock gig at Brown University when the sound/lights tech decided to turn on a strobe light in the middle of our set while folks were dancing on the dance floor. All of a sudden people starting dropping to the floor as they were getting dizzy & disoriented by the effect of the strobe. I also started to feel it however I closed my eyes so that I could continue playing the song. The light tech never lived it down.

Another time the band was performing its last night at a particular venue in New England when the crowd started getting rowdy. Before we knew it fights broke out, bottles were being thrown, including thrown at us up on the stage. As things were getting out of control we stopped playing, packed up as fast as we could, threw everything in the back of the tour bus and got out as fast as we could with our lives! On the way out we passed the flashing lights of police cars coming to the rescue.

What has been the highlight of your music path?

Being able to have access to orchestras to record with. Because of technology, it has made the process much easier as this can either be done on site or from afar via Zoom, etc. Additionally receiving awards for these efforts particularly when social issues have been the subject of the music is rewarding knowing that others appreciate the effort and impact of raising awareness vis-à-vis the music's messaging.

Do you have a new release? Yes, ADAGIO GROOVES! As I've done Classical projects and Jazz projects in the past, I decided to combine the two for this Jazz release: Classical meets Jazz as The Budapest Symphony intersects with virtuoso jazz saxman & Universal Music Group artist Justin Chart for six tracks that feature orchestral arrangements with beautiful soulful melodies that evolve into addicting grooves.

It's a different concept where each track is divided into two sections—beginning with a String Adagio that is then followed by a rhythm section groove, hence Adagio Grooves. The players on the album are all veterans who have also played with a variety of top-tier artists: Justin Chart is the featured artist on alto sax, Max Gerl on bass, Scott Jackson on drums, and as composer & producer I'm doing the keyboard work.

How would you describe the music on this album? Some have described it as classical-jazz or symphonic-hipster. However, I like to refer to it as Third Stream 2.0. Third Stream is a musical genre that blends elements of classical music and jazz. It was coined by composer Gunther Schuller in 1957 to describe compositions that incorporate the improvisational and rhythmic aspects of jazz with the sophisticated structures and instrumentation of classical music. The innovative idea of fusing jazz and classical music pushed the boundaries of traditional music and introduced a new genre that blends the two styles into a unique hybrid form.

Early attempts at Third Stream faced challenges, as some classical musicians struggled with jazz improvisation and swing feel, while some jazz musicians found rigid classical structures difficult. My solution for these challenges is to let classical musicians do what they do best—play Adagios exquisitely—and let jazz musicians do what they do best—lay down grooves and improvise wild solos.

For fans who have never heard your music, how would you describe your sound? Emotional, cinematic, symphonic-hipster, cool-jazz.

What is your favorite part about being an artist? Is it songwriting, performing, producing...something else? Composing. I enjoy the creative process more than other aspects of the music biz. Mixing, producing & marketing are all essential in order to achieve some degree of success however seeing how a song develops from the simple melody to a full-blown work is where I get the most satisfaction.

What is coming up in the future for you? I've recorded two classical projects: one with the Czech National Symphony Orchestra and the other with the Prague Symphony Orchestra. I'm actually going to be the solo performer for one of the works, a concerto for guitar & orchestra. I've been busy composing over the last couple of years and have been negligent in keeping up my guitar skills. However, a week of playing Villa-Lobos Etude #1 should get my fingers moving again ;>)

The other work is a Variations On a Theme concept where I've written some works that have a variety of variations associated with the main theme.

Is there a particular challenge you are currently facing? As an independent musical artist, I can attest to the fact that streaming has been devastating to this community of creatives. Generating fractions of pennies for streams doesn’t begin to cover the cost of recording, manufacturing, releasing, and marketing an album. My advice on how to best support your favorite musical artists is to buy their music and merch. Whether it’s a CD, vinyl, or music download, you get a tangible product with cool cover art and often interesting liner notes—not to mention a better sound quality as streamed music is often compressed with a limited frequency range.

Here are my talking points on purchasing in lieu of streaming: • No Wifi Needed • No Advertisements • No Monthly Subscription Fees • No Compressed Frequencies • High Bit-Rate Offers Superior Sound Quality • Buy it Once, Own It For a Lifetime

Supporting artists in this manner enables them to finance their next project, much to the benefit of their fans.

Connect with Peter Xifaras: 🌐 Website: https://peterx.music/ 🎧 Spotify: Peter Xifaras on Spotify 📺 YouTube: Peter Xifaras on YouTube

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