Peter Bellinger worked at the Mark Twain Hotel in downtown San Francisco for twelve years, starting as a bell boy and advancing to general manager. After leaving the hotel, he went back to college to study composition. Upon receiving his HIV diagnosis, he retired and began to pursue composition, and continued to write music for over ten years. He and his partner were together for nearly twenty-three years.

Peter Bellinger died of AIDS in Honolulu at the age of 54 on April 18, 2001.

"I have been improvising and composing music since the age of thirteen. For many years my primary interest was music with a theatrical focus: musical comedy, dance and movie music. Lately I have concentrated on choral work, taped dance-performance music and music for small instrumental ensembles.

"I am, broadly speaking, a composer of melodic music, but, like most creative people, I have a pretty healthy disdain for labels. My work runs the gamut from dissonant to consonant, chromatic to diatonic. I do not abide by the rules of any particular genre. I like experimenting with new concepts in music as much as I like reinterpreting traditional forms. My aim is to entertain people, not to educate them. Above all, I believe music should be reasonably accessible."

—Peter Bellinger

WORKS:

INSTRUMENTAL

Adagio
for: violin, cello, piano
date: 1996

Allegro "Matinee"
for: violin, cello, piano
date: 1988

Dances for the Garden
for: guitar trio
date: 1990

Dances for the Night Garden
for: guitar trio
note: new arrangement of Dances for the Garden
date: 1999

Joe's Song
for: string quartet
date: 1991

Les Homages
for: violin, cello, piano, clarinet
date: 1998

One of Those Gray People
for: horn, bassoon, piano
date: 1988

Portraits of Children
for: oboe and piano
date: 1989

Maine Woods, Autumn
for: clarinet, cello, piano, bongo drums
date: 1992

Piece for J. & G.
for: two cellos
date: 2000

Sax Quintet
for: five saxophones
date: 1994

WORKS WITH SOLO VOICE

Blessings & Meditations
for: mezzo-soprano, violin, cello, piano
date: 1999

Ending
for: mezzo-soprano and piano
date: 1993

George's Tree
for: tenor and piano
date: 1988

God is a Verb
for: mezzo-soprano, clarinet, bassoon, piano
date: 1989

A Noiseless, Patient Spider
for: soprano and piano
date: 1990

Suite from "The Other Person"
for: soprano, flute, clarinet, cello, piano
date: 1992

CHORAL

Feathers
for: SATB, piano, organ
date: 1997

God is a Verb
for: TTBB and piano
date: 1991

God is a Verb
for: SATB and piano
date: 1998

Song of Love
for: children's chorus and piano
date: 1989

Triptych
for: TTBB and piano
date: 1993

ELECTRONIC

Counting Numbers
for: computer music (for dance)
date: 1993

Coventry Carol (arrangement)
for: computer
date: 1992

The Music Lesson
for: computer music (for a student film)
date: 1990

O Come, Emmanuel (arrangement)
for: computer
date: 1991

The Sign
for: computer music (for a student film)
date: 1988

Stories from My Childhood
for: computer music (for dance)
date: 1991

Touches of Reality
for: computer music (for dance)
date: 1992

Trash Troll
for: computer music (for video)
date: 1993

Two Marches
for: computer music (for a parade)
date: 1993

UNCOMPLETED WORKS:
Unknown

WRITINGS:
Unknown

DISCOGRAPHY:
No professionally released recordings. All works recorded (concert performances or computer demos) archived on privately produced compact discs.

BIBLIOGRAPHY:

• Obituary, San Francisco Chronicle, Thursday, May 17, 2001.

PERFORMING RIGHTS AFFILIATION:
N/A

RESOURCES:
N/A

MUSICAL EXECUTOR:
Joe Grubb (companion)
730 2nd Avenue
San Francisco, CA 94118-4021
(415) 668-3656
joegrubb@pacbell.net

OTHER CONTACTS:
Unknown