A life shaped by the piano.
Born into a musical family, Peter Dembski first sat down at the piano at three. What followed was a lifetime of listening — from Paris and Rome to New York's jazz clubs and the Maine coast.
His father was a pianist, so music was always around the house. As a teen he was already writing and developing the improvisational instincts that would shape his approach to every instrument on the bandstand.
During those years he spent extended time in Europe — Paris, Rome, Edinborough, and Perugia before he turned twenty. After Yale and Bennington, Peter moved to New York, working in the theater and dance worlds as a pianist, arranger, and composer. He also worked as a jazz sideman, backing everyone from Cecil Payne, the elder master of the baritone saxophone, to players from the younger generation like Ben Street.
Peter leads his own band, The Pandea Group— a rotating cast that includes bassists Ron McClure and Mike Richmond, Savant guitarist Bob Devos, alto saxophonist Aaron Heick (Chaka Khan, Richard Bono), and Grisha Alexiev on drums. In the 2000s they performed regularly at the legendary 55 Bar, one of the oldest jazz rooms in Greenwich Village. His recording, Double Life, features former members of the Miles Davis Group and Sting's band.
Peter also maintains an active teaching career, specializing in improvisation for classically trained musicians. He was awarded the 2007 Fellowship in the Performing Arts from the Maine Arts Commission — the first jazz musician to receive the prize. He divides his time between his home on the Maine coast and his New York apartment.