piano
in 2019, pete released an album of solo piano compositions, recorded in a single evening in the majestic setting of bristol’s st george’s. music from this album features in adam laity’s “a short film about ice” (winner of ‘best climate emergency film’ at the ahrc research in film awards 2020), and the trailer for the feature film “long way back” (directed by brett harvey, released 2022)
the follow-up, “piano 2”, was released in spring 2020, and chosen by richard williams in the guardian as one of the best albums of the year. a track from the album was used as the theme music for the bbc radio 4 extra series “new creatives dramas”
this music also features in his “piano + film” live collaboration with audio-visual artist kathy hinde, premiered at st george’s in november 2020 (online) and february 2022 (live), and described by Bristol 24/7 as “completely riveting…each image was paced to match the delicate unfolding of the musical ideas, creating an hypnotically meditative experience”
“piano 3” was recorded in february 2022 and was released on crd records in 2024, garnering a four-star review in bbc music magazine
“I haven’t felt so close to a solo piano record since Keith Jarrett’s ‘The Melody at Night, With You’… ‘piano 2’ has a similar honesty. It’s just there, like a friend. And at the moment it feels like the perfect music for the times we’re living through” (richard williams, the blue moment)
“a most thought-provoking and deep-feeling composer…he has a real knack for creating stillness and beauty” (bbc music magazine)
“really exceptional albums…meditative and beautiful, full of emotion” (sarah walker, bbc radio 3’s sunday morning)
“if you haven’t heard his solo piano recordings, I urge you strongly to rectify that immediately” (bristol 24/7)
“beautiful piano miniatures – intimate, honest, expressive – a poignant elegy to nature” (ben spencer, st george’s bristol)
follow pete’s solo releases on spotify here: pete judge spotify
you can buy cds, digital downloads, and transcriptions of all three piano albums here:
https://petejudge.bandcamp.com
trumpet
alongside his solo piano compositions and releases, pete has been exploring the possibilities of writing for solo trumpet for many years (as witnessed in his performance under Luke Jerram’s “Gaia” installation in Bristol Cathedral, October 2024)
in late 2024, he was honoured to be the recipient of an Arts Council England ‘Developing Your Creative Practice’ award. This has enabled him to spend proper time gnawing away at aspects of creativity, composing, recording and trumpeting, with much appreciated additional input from trumpeters/composers Arve Henriksen and Laura Jurd, recording wizard Jim Barr, and St George’s Bristol. He also spent three days at Mike Perry’s ‘Y Cae’ art/ecology/rewilding project in North Pembrokeshire, the start of an ongoing collaboration with a photographer and a landscape.
work for solo and augmented trumpet is underway – watch this space for more details very soon
