The Website of Peter Link

This is Part 3. If you haven’t yet read Part 1 & 2, I highly suggest you do so first.

For a little more than five years when I was in my late 20s and early 30s I was composer-in-residence at the NY Shakespeare Festival (The Public Theater) working with producer Joseph Papp in what was, at the time, the most creative theatrical hot spot in the country. Joe Papp and his plays and musicals had an amazing run of success during the 70s that we haven’t seen the likes of from a theatrical producer since.

Zero Mostel was a large man – not particularly tall, but large. He had a voluptuous appetite for both food and all the rest of life as well. Many people don’t know this, but besides being a huge Broadway star culminating in his unforgettable performance originating the role of Tevye in Fiddler On The Roof, he was also a wondrous painter. He once invited me over to his studio which covered an entire floor of a rebuilt factory and was filled with the paintings of a lifetime.

I’ve had the great pleasure of working with some pretty amazing performers in my life – both stage and concert hall. My chosen spot has always been to watch (or work) from the back of the house – usually just about as far from the stage as one can get. After a short, but most successful career as an actor, the lead in Hair on Broadway, the lead in my own Salvation Off-Broadway and a leading role in TV’s soap, As The World Turns, I decided that acting was not my thing and retired to the more comfortable confines of director/composer.

I’ve been working on a song – a song for an outside client whose album I’ve been producing and orchestrating. It hasn’t been working. I’ve tried several different approaches – woodwinds, guitar based, drums/no drums, stronger/lighter, and nothing I did seemed to bring the song to its musical realization supporting the lyric, content and intent of the song.

What is a Digi-Book? “A Digi-Book is an electronic version of an album’s liner notes and vital information. This downloadable digital booklet contains photos, lyrics, and notes written by the artists and producers of the album as well as all sorts of information pertinent to the experience.”

I’ve always loved Christmas songs. Who hasn’t? They are iconic references and symbols of one of, for most of us, one of the real highlights of childhood – and then we get to repeat it all in a slightly different fashion as parents years later. These songs take us through these enchanting times and play in the background like a movie score.

Naturally, with great interest, I have watched closely the evolution of the music business. It is my life. Inspirational music has become my mission for the past 15 years and in that time I’ve watched this business of music spin out of control, crash and burn and then try to rise from the ashes time after time only to crash and burn again.