Peter Fahey is an Irish composer based in Berlin. He studied music at the Royal Northern College of Music, Cornell University, and as an exchange scholar at Columbia University.
He has been awarded the American Composers Orchestra’s Underwood New Music Commission, the Stefan Kaske Fellowship from the Wellesley Composer’s Conference, a Susan and Ford Schumann Fellowship from the Aspen Music Festival and School, the Franz Liszt Stipendium from the Hochschule für Musik Franz Liszt Weimar, and a 2018 Next Generation Artist Award from the Arts Council of Ireland.
He has collaborated with, among others, Alarm Will Sound, the American Composers Orchestra, Continuum, Crash Ensemble, ensemble recherche, Ensemble Musiques Nouvelles, Ensemble Surplus, Irish National Opera, Klangforum Wien, and the RTÉ National Symphony Orchestra. His music has been presented at venues such as Carnegie Hall and the National Concert Hall in Dublin and at festivals such as the Aspen Music Festival, Gaudeamus Muziekweek, and Festival Música Nova in Brazil.
At MacDowell in 2013, Fahey worked on a piece for orchestra and electronics, A Mirror to Kathleen's Face, commissioned by the American Composers Orchestra via the 2012 Underwood New Music Commission. In 2016, he worked on a new piece for two laptops and amplified instruments for LAPS Ensemble (Brussels). During his 2024 residency, Fahey worked on two opera projects: Máthairtheanga, a short Irish language opera for three female voices and chamber ensemble, and a standalone instrumental section from his monodrama Through and Through for female voice and chamber orchestra.
