Founded in 1999 by composers Peter Stopschinski and Graham Reynolds, GHP has presented over 40 concerts of indie classical music by nearly 30 composers from non-academic musical backgrounds in underground rock, jazz, electronic and hip hop.

GRAHAM REYNOLDS:

Reynolds is a composer, bandleader, pianist and drummer based in Austin, Texas who works in theater, dance, film, concert halls, and nightclubs. His compositions include four symphonies, two operas, a violin concerto, more than a dozen one movement string quartets and countless chamber music pieces.

FILM scores include five feature films, dozens of short films, animated shorts, and more than 20 silent films. Film collaborators have included Richard Linklater, Steve Collins and Luke Savisky.   PERFORMANCE highlights include a live appearance on NPR’s Talk of the Nation and a night at the Kennedy Center. The eclectic nature of the band has led to double bills ranging from Ken Vandermark to The Sea and the Cake to Merle Haggard guitarist Redd Volkeart.  COMPOSITIONS by Graham Reynolds Include four symphonies, two operas, a violin concerto, more than a dozen one movement string quartets, and countless chamber music pieces. THEATER ranging from recorded incidental music to fully scored musicals with live accompaniment on more than a dozen productions. Awards include the Frederick Lowe Music Theater Award, Austin Critics’ Table, and B. Iden Payne. Graham is the resident composer with Salvage Vanguard Theater and a company member with the Rude Mechs.  DANCE collaborators have included choreographers Yakov Sharir, Ellen Bartel, and Andrea Ariel.

PETER STOPSCHINSKI

Peter Stopschinski has been a performer, composer, teacher, and producer in Austin, TX for the past 13 years.  Peter has a B.A. in Composition from the University of Texas where he studied Music Theory, Piano, and Music Composition.

After completing his undergraduate studies, Peter went on tour with the experimental punk rock band Brown Whornet playing gigs all over the United States and releasing 6 albums.  Currently Brown Whornet is releasing “BROWNLOADS” a series of new recordings available through their website every month for free — www.brownwhornet.com.  In 1999 Peter joined forces with Golden Arm Trio bandleader Graham Reynolds to form the Golden Hornet Project, an organization dedicated to the composition and performance of newly composed music for any instrumentation from solos to rock band to symphony orchestra.  Through Golden Hornet Project, Peter has composed and had performed 5 symphonies, a Concerto for Viola and Orchestra, 5 multi-movement String Quartets (some of which include drum machine and/or electronics), and many other works for percussion ensemble, chorus, brass quintet, piano, etc.  Golden Hornet Project won the Austin Critic’s Table Award in 2004 for the premier of Peter’s 3rd symphony as well as earning a listing in Rolling Stone’s “Top 10 Under The Radar (bands you probably don’t know about but should) 2003.”

He is the resident composer (since 2003) at the Austin Waldorf School where he has composed many works for Boys Chorus, Girls Chorus, Percussion Ensemble, Orchestra and a large scale cantata based on text by Ralph Waldo Emerson entitled “The Darkest Things Sing” for large orchestra, chorus, soloists, and children’s chorus for the dedication of their performing arts center (2004).  He is currently working on a commission for a 2-hour musical adaptation of Charles Dickens’ A Tale Of Two Cities for The Austin Waldorf School due for production in 2009.  Peter has composed scores for Spank Dance Co., Ariel Dance Theater, Rude Mechanicals Theatre Collective, Salvage Vanguard Theater Company, Texas Viola Society, Viola By Choice, and the Austin Chamber Music Center.  He received an Austin Critics Table nomination for “Best Composition” in 2005 for his 5th Symphony.