Music by Peter Cinko

About Peter

Peter began his musical journey at age six on the guitar after being inspired by his father. After taking weekly lessons at the local music school in Chicago, he began performing at school recitals, church services, and theater productions.

Peter attended Whitney Young Magnet High School in Chicago. The curriculum required all students to take one music course. Since he was already an advanced guitarist and the only guitar course available was for beginners, he decided to try out beginning orchestra. Choosing the viola proved to be a lifelong inspiration. After the first year of beginning orchestra, his talent allowed him to skip intermediate orchestra and go to advanced orchestra where he earned second chair in the initial audition. In his senior year, he was selected by audition to participate in the Illinois Music Education Association orchestra.

In high school, Peter was a member of a rock band performing original music and cover songs. In 2009, the band competed in a local battle of the bands competition, making it to the state finals that year in Springfield, IL. They performed at Skokie's Backlot Bash, the Skokie Theater, and on the Spirit of Chicago at Navy Pier.

The next step in Peter's musical journey was earning a Bachelor's Degree in music at Northern Illinois University. There he studied music theory, music history, aural skills, and performed with the philharmonic orchestra. He took weekly lessons with Anthony Devroye, violist of the nationally renowned Avalon String Quartet. He was able to attend master classes with famous violinists Hilary Hahn and Rachel Barton Pine.

After graduating from NIU, Peter performed regularly at a variety of recitals and concerts. He was a member of the Ravenswood Community Orchestra as principal viola. He was a weekly volunteer playing for residents at Friedman Place, a community for the blind. He has played wedding ceremonies for family and friends.