Peter Gneist

Peter Gneist

Peter Gneist has been playing bandoneon and Argentinian tango since the early 90s. He taught himself to play the bandoneon and initially studied with Geneva musician Pablo Rellez and Argentinian musicians Daniel Binelli and Nestor Marconi (during four long study periods in Buenos Aires).

Peter Gneist regularly performs as a duo with Roland Senft and plays with the following bands:

• the Ensemble Guardia Vieja formed by guitarist and singer Humberto Cosentino who is based in Fribourg;
• guitarist Carlos Dorado and singer Marcela Arroyo.

Between 2001 and 2003, he played bandoneon with the Basel tango orchestra "Silencio Tango". Between 2000 and 2002, he toured in Switzerland with the Basel ensemble "Estufa Caliente" and soloists Rubén Juárez and Susana Ratcliff.

Peter Gneist also took part in the following theatrical productions:

• "The Threepenny Opera" by Kurt Weill, in Bern in 1997 and in Basel in 1999;
• between 1998 and 2000, he played the bandoneon in the theatrical play "Was ist los mit Daniela Dunioz?" by the "Junge Theater Zürich" group, known today as the "Theater an der Sihl".

In January 2000, he performed as a soloist in works for bandoneon and orchestra for cord instruments composed by Astor Piazzolla, with the Steffisburg and Wohlen Chamber Orchestras. In the summer of 2003, he was hired to play bandoneon in the musical "Evita" which was performed on Lake Thun.

From October 2004 to April 2005, he spent more time in Buenos Aires where he studied with Nestor Marconi and Hugo Romero (training course for performers with the Popular Music School of Avellaneda). He also performed in Buenos Aires and Colonia (Uruguay). In November and December 2005, he appeared with the "Simmentaler Brassensemble". He performed as a soloist with the Chamber Orchestra of Neufeld (Bern) in February 2006 and with the Chamber Orchestra of Lyss in May and June 2006. In May 2006, he played a musical part in Judith Kennel’s film "Briefe und andere Geheimnisse" for Swiss Television. In September 2006, he participated in the Swiss premiere of "Misa a Buenos Aires" by Argentinian composer Martín Palmieri, which took place in Baden (Aargau). In October and November 2006, he was hired to play bandoneon in the musical "Aufstieg und Fall der Stadt Mahagonny" by Kurt Weill and Berthold Brecht which was performed in the Municipal Theater of Bern.

In March 2007, he performed in the Paul Klee Museum with musicians from Bern and Biel and the Argentinian singer Marcela Arroyo. From January to March 2008, as a guest of the Geneva baroque music group "La nouvelle Menestrandie", he toured in the cantons of Vaud and Geneva with the programme "Die acht Jahreszeiten" (Vivaldi-Piazzolla).