Initially a student of French and German at Magdalen College, Oxford, Peter Harvey only later changed course to music, and a love of languages has always remained at the heart of his singing. On leaving university he went on to the Guildhall School of Music and Drama, during which time he won prizes in numerous competitions, including the Walther Grüner International Lieder Competition, the English Song Award, and the Peter Pears Award.
Peter has made close to 150 recordings in repertoire spanning eight centuries, with an emphasis on the High Baroque. Along with works by Handel and Purcell he has recorded all the major vocal works of J.S. Bach and many of the cantatas with conductors including Sir John Eliot Gardiner, Philippe Herreweghe and Paul McCreesh. A fluent French speaker, Peter has recorded a great many sacred works of the French Baroque (Campra, Gilles, Lully, Charpentier, Lalande) including Rameau's complete Grands Motets (with Le Concert Spirituel) and the secular cantatas for bass voice (with London Baroque, on BIS). Of his two recordings of the Fauré Requiem with Michel Corboz, the latest version won the "Choc de l'année" in Le Monde de la Musique. The Gabrieli Consort's recording of Haydn's Creation, for Deutsche Grammophon, on which Peter sings "Adam", won the 'Grammy Award' for the best choral recording of 2008. His Winterreise with Gary Cooper on Linn garnered outstanding reviews in the national and international press.
Recent and upcoming highlights include his debut at Royal Danish Opera as well as performances with Concerto Copenhagen, Monteverdi Choir and Orchestra, Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment, Akademie für Alte Musik Berlin, Gaechinger Cantorey, Freiburger Barockorchester, Mahler Chamber Orchestra, Tafelmusik Toronto, Ensemble Pygmalion, Gulbenkian Orchestra, Orquesta Sinfonica de Bilbao, Oslo Philharmonic , Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra, Rotterdam Philharmonic, Nederlands Kamerorkest and Orchestre symphonique de Montréal.
He has also appeared with The King’s Consort, Netherlands Bach Society, Israel Camerata, The Sixteen, BBC Symphony, Scottish Chamber Orchestra, Bach Collegium Japan, Budapest Festival Orchestra and the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra.
