As a young violinist in the 1980s, Peter Hanson played in London
with the Academy of St. Martin’s-in-the-Fields, The London
Sinfonietta and other orchestras. He also formed the Hanson String
Quartet, which toured extensively, made numerous recordings, and
broadcast regularly for the BBC. In 1990 Peter was invited by
Trevor Pinnock to lead the English Concert Orchestra and was soon
travelling the world playing the baroque repertoire.
A vision of a new string quartet emerged and the Eroica Quartet
was formed with colleagues from the world of period instrument
performance. As well as working with the quartet, Peter now
leads Sir John Eliot Gardiner’s Orchestre Revolutionaire et
Romantique, which had a residency at the Chatelet Theatre in
Paris culminating in an historic performance of ‘Les Troyens’
by Berlioz. The orchestra was also used in the BBC 2 costume
drama ‘Eroica’ in October 2003. As leader he both played and acted
in this film.
Peter has led for Roger Norrington’s London Classical Players
and the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment. He has been invited
as guest leader with the Hallé Orchestra, the Scottish Chamber
Orchestra, and the Philharmonia Orchestra conducted by
Rostropovich, the Mahler Chamber Orchestra, Les Musiciens du Louvre
with Marc Minkowski, L’Orchestre des Champs-Elysées and a new
French orchestra, La Chambre Philharmonique, which is a period
instrument group specialising in classical and romantic repertoire.
In April 2005, he completed a tour of Europe as guest leader of the
London Symphony Orchestra.