Bio
Dr. Peter A. McAllister became the Director of the School of Music starting July 1, 2005. Prior to moving to The University of Arizona, McAllister served as the Director of the School of Music at Ball State University in Indiana (2003 - 2005; Interim Director 2002-2003).
For more than 20 years he has taught at the university level, including the University of Toronto, McMaster University, McGill University, Kent State University, and Ball State University. He has taught general and instrumental music (K-12) for 5 years at public schools in Ohio, Ontario and Quebec.
As a classical guitarist, McAllister has co-edited a series of 10 books published by Frederick Harris Music, and with guitarist Donald Wilson, premiered over 30 classical guitar compositions and recorded professionally for Fanfare Records (Canada: was also available as a Columbia Record Club-of-the-Month selection) and Carleton Records (England - this label also records the London Philharmonic Orchestra). His teachers include Fred Lane, Marcel Potvin, Eli Kassner at the University of Toronto, and Alexander Lagoya (Paris Conservatoire).
His virtuosic performances have received accolades by international critics:
"virtuosic brilliance...gifted" Washington Post, USA
"guitar genius" The Toronto Star, Canada
"a free wheeling virtuoso display" The Globe and Mail, Toronto, Canada
"brilliant and elegant...dazzling virtuosity of a grand master" Le Republican Lorrain, Luxembourg
"musician of exceptional talent...marvelous technical abilities" Il Mattino di Pavoda, Italy
"this concert was an event without parallel...the highest level" Le Soir, Belgium
"highly gifted artist...one of the best" Der Bund, Bern, Switzerland
"outstanding...perfect technique was something to be taken for granted" Bonn General-Anzeiger, Germany
"this exciting young performer has now arrived on the scene" Die Welt, Germany
McAllister has presented over 45 research papers at international, national, and state music education conferences in Arizona, California, Georgia, Indiana, Illinois, Ohio, Oklahoma, and Missouri. He has published in the leading research journals Contributions to Music Education, the Journal of Band Research, and the Journal of Research in Music Education. He is a member of numerous music education associations, including the Music Educators National Conference (MENC), the National Association for Music Education. He was appointed to the international Music Educators Journal (MEJ) Editorial Committee (1998-2002), a publication with over 77,000 readers. McAllister served as Chair for the MENC Cognition and Perception Special Research Interest Group (SRIG) from 2002 to 2004.
He is co-editor of the Hal Leonard publication "Technology Strategies for Music Education - Revised Edition" (2002).
At The University of Arizona, McAllister serves on the Strategic Planning and Budget Advisory Board (SPBAC; 2006-present), the College of Education Professional Preparation Board (2006-present), and the Koffler Prize Committee (2006, 2007 as chair, and 2008 as chair).
