Biography
One of the world’s foremost authorities on the classical accordion, Antonio Peruch is a distinguished international classical accordion artist, concerto soloist, chamber musician, recording artist, lecturer, researcher, composer, and arranger. He studied composition with Violet Archer and Malcolm Forsyth.
He was nominated for both a Juno Award and a Western Canadian Music Award for his Logos Futura CD of Canadian concertos for classical accordion and orchestra that he commissioned. He won Italy’s Orpheus recording award for his Homage to Tango: The Music of Daniel Binelli CD, which he recorded in Cuba with the prestigious Camerata Romeu string orchestra.
One of the world’s most innovative, knowledgeable, and captivating concert accordionists, he pursues his vision of the accordion as an exciting, highly expressive classical concert instrument—in the recording studio, the teaching studio, and in the concert hall. He has performed before enthusiastic audiences in Canada, the USA, Italy, Mexico, and Cuba.
Peruch was knighted by the Republic of Italy for his contributions to Italian music and culture, and received the prestigious University of Alberta Alumni Association Award of Excellence. His musical projects have been supported by the Edmonton Arts Council, the City of Edmonton, the Alberta Foundation for the Arts, the Canada Council for the Arts, and the Instituto Cubano de la Musica.
His book translation, Astor Piazzolla: The Father of the New Tango, originally written in Italian by Dr. Paolo Picchio, was published in 2023 by Edizioni Curci publishers of Milan, Italy.
He currently teaches classical accordion at the Bachelor’s and Master’s levels in the Music Division, School of Creative and Performing Arts, University of Calgary.