Peter Gordon

Peter Gordon is an American experimental composer and musician, whose music has influences as diverse as jazz, opera, rock and world music. He has released several albums, and has also composed film and theatre scores.
Gordon earned a BA in composition at University of California, San Diego, where he studied with Kenneth Gaburo and Roger Reynolds; he earned an MFA at the Mills College Center for Contemporary Music, where he studied with Robert Ashley and Terry Riley.

Gordon was an important member of the downtown New York art and music scene in the late 1970's/early '80s. In addition to his solo work, and that with his Love of Life Orchestra, he worked closely with Arthur Russell and has appeared on or composed music for albums by Laurie Anderson, Suzanne Vega, David Johansen, Elliott Murphy, The Flying Lizards, David Van Tieghem, Lawrence Weiner, and Rhys Chatham.

In 2007, James Murphy and Pat Mahoney of LCD Soundsystem used Gordon's classic Downtown tracks "Beginning of the Heartbreak" and "Don't Don't" to open and close their highly acclaimed dance mix FabricLive.36. He has since released a number of recordings on Foom Music, has collaborated on recordings with Factory Floor, as well as with Tim Burgess ("Same Language, Different Worlds"). Gordon has an ongoing collaboration with video artist Kit Fitzgerald. Gordon is currently living and working in New York City