Active as both a scholar and performer, Peter Bennett teaches in the Musicology and Historical Performance Practice programs at CWRU. A scholar of early-modern France 鈥� focusing in particular on the intersection of music, religion, and politics in Louis XIII鈥檚 Paris 鈥� he has also long been active as a harpsichordist and organist, in Europe (where he studied) and the USA.
Musicology. Bennett holds degrees from Cambridge (B.A./M.A., Natural Sciences), King鈥檚 College, London (M.Mus.), and Oxford (D.Phil.), and was appointed to the CWRU faculty in 2005. In addition to presenting at numerous conferences in the US, UK, and France, he has published articles in the Journal of the American Musicological Society, Early Music, and the Revue de Musicologie, and his first book, Sacred repertories in Paris under Louis XIII (Ashgate, 2009), appeared in the Royal Musical Association Monograph series (a 鈥渕agisterial study鈥�, Early Music). In 2015-16 he held a Le Studium fellowship at the Centre d鈥櫭塼udes Sup茅rieures de la Renaissance, Tours, where his research centered on Louis XIII鈥檚 ceremonial 别苍迟谤茅别蝉. The project culminated in an international conference on early modern ceremonial, and in the publication (with Bernard Dompnier, co-editor) of C茅r茅monial politique et c茅r茅monial religieux dans l鈥橢urope modern: 脡changes et m茅tissages (Classiques Garnier, 2020). Research from this fellowship also informed his most recent book, Music and Power at the Court of Louis XIII: Sounding the Liturgy in Early Modern France (Cambridge University Press, 2021), a study of power and absolutism as seen through the lens of court liturgical and musical practices (鈥渃harts a masterful journey鈥�, Journal of the American Musicological Society.) He is currently working on a number of projects related to music and provincial French ceremonial.
Historical Performance Practice/Early Keyboard. Bennett studied organ in Cambridge (Nicolas Kynaston) and Vienna (Peter Planyavsky) before taking up the harpsichord, studying in London (Jill Severs) and Siena (Academia Chigiana, Kenneth Gilbert). As the founder of Ensemble Dumont (1995-2003), a consort of singers, viols and continuo which he directed from the keyboard, he has appeared in the UK and Europe, performing at the Bruges (Belgium) and Innsbruck (Austria) Early Music Festivals, the MDR-Sommer Festival (Germany), and the Wigmore Hall, London, also broadcasting on the BBC, RAI (Italy), MDR/SWR (Germany), and R3 (Belgium). The ensemble鈥檚 recordings for Linn Records received accolades from Gramophone Magazine (Editor鈥檚 Choice 鈥渕eltingly gorgeous鈥�, and Critics鈥� Choice 鈥渙ne of the year鈥檚 most beautiful releases 鈥� sublime performances鈥�), Diapason (鈥淓st-il pourtant disque plus sensuel, plus ravissant que celui-ci?鈥�), BBC Music Magazine (鈥漰erformed with gracefulness and sensibility鈥�), Le Monde de la Musique, and others. In Cleveland Bennett teaches harpsichord in the CWRU HPP program and at CIM (where he is Head of Harpsichord), and has played with Apollo鈥檚 Fire, the Cleveland Baroque Orchestra, since 2006.