Peter Ostroushko
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Peter Ostroushko

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Press


"Various"

“One of the finest musicians on the planet.” Rhythm Music Magazine
“Let’s start with the word ‘brilliant’ and move on from there...in addition to flatout mastery of his instruments, Ostroushko dazzles with his command of various musical genres.” The Advocate
“Five stars! Jackpot! Ostroushko is one of a group of virtuoso musicians capable of defying boundaries… as both a composer and a player, Peter Ostroushko deserves a prominent place in the front rank of today’s acoustic music scene.” Sing Out!
“An acoustic music fan’s delight.” Dirty Linen
“One of the finest and possibly the most versatile of the current crop of multiinstrumentalists.”
The Boston Globe
“Trying to find a descriptive label for Peter Ostroushko’s music is alot like using words to describe Picasso’s painting. It can’t be done. About the best one can do is to declare that, whatever the style or medium, Ostroushko’s music is created with passion and imagination and is performed with breathtaking precision.” Tulsa World
“Peter Ostroushko can play anything! And usually does!” Maine Sunday Telegram
“There may be no other living person on this planet who can play faster than Ostroushko...he can
add filigrees and detail that is downright ear-boggling.” Oakland Tribune
“A player of miraculous adaptability…” Billboard Magazine
“Peter the Great, or ‘the O man,’ is a long-standing musicians’ musician, an acoustic instrumentalist who’s traveled in so many circles that you get dizzy reading his resume.” Twin
Cities Reader
“The tunes on Ostroushko’s tour de force are soundscapes in the truest sense…meditative, turbulent, funny, alternately harsh and serene…they unfold like the most leisurely symphony imaginable, indicating Ostroushko has forged a winning synthesis of folk and classical strains. His aim is to paint portraits of a land with a heart at its center, and he is uncannily on mystical
target.” Boston Globe
“Few can drive a vamp as powerfully as fiddler/mandolinist Ostroushko.” Chicago Tribune
“Quietly breathtaking…Ostroushko’s gorgeous melodies are sometimes bittersweet and, like Ansel Adams’ photographs, capture the essence of a place.” Minneapolis Star Tribune - Rhythm Music Magazine


Discography

Peter Joins the Circus, 2008
Postcards, 2006
Heartland Holiday: Live at the Fitzgerald, 2005
Minnesota: A History of the Land, 2005
by Laura MacKenzie, Joel Sayles, Diane Tremaine & Peter Ostroushko
Coming Down from Red Lodge, 2003
Meeting on Southern Soil, 2001
by Peter Ostroushko and Norman Blake
Sacred Heart, 2000
Pilgrims on the Heart Road, 1997
Heart of the Heartland, 1995
Duo, 1991
Buddies of Swing, 1987
The Mando Boys, 1986

Photos

Bio

Peter Ostroushko has come to be regarded as one of the finest mandolin and fiddle players in acoustic music. His tours have taken him to the stages of clubs, performing arts centers, music festivals and theatres across North America and Europe, and he has earned an international reputation as a versatile and dazzling master of instrumentation and composition. His recording contributions stand favorably alongside great Nashville session men of his generation. He’s played with Jethro Burns, Emmylou Harris, Willie Nelson, Chet Atkins, Johnny Gimble, but his hometown Minneapolis’ music scene has provided a fabulous variety of musical styles in which Peter remains enequaled: folk (Greg Brown, John Hartford, Taj Mahal, Robin & Linda Williams), bluegrass (Norman and Nancy Blake, Tim O’Brien and Hot Rize), jazz, classical, and even rock: Peter’s first
recording session was an uncredited mandolin set on Bob Dylan’s Blood on the Tracks, and his work is featured on Robin Holcomb’s 1992 release Rockabye (Elektra).
Where Peter is at his most passionate is when Peter plays Ostroushko — a rich ethnic mix at the heart of which is his Ukrainian heritage. His term for his gumbo of musical styles is “sluz duz,” a phrase borrowed from his mother meaning, roughly “over the edge” or “off his rocker.” Indeed, Peter is something of a first-generation hero in the Ukrainian community of North America. To his surprise, one town even held a parade in his honor!) Not surprisingly, Peter’s resume is dizzying in size and scope. He’s played lead ukulele with the Minnesota Symphony Orchestra under the direction of Sir Neville Mariner. He’s barked like a dog on The David Lettermen Show. He’s appeared on Mr. Rogers’ Neighborhood (whose other rare musical guests have included Wynton Marsalis and Yo-Yo Ma). He’s composed and performed scores for a number of theatrical productions including The Children’s Theater in Minneapolis (with whom he traveled to Edinburgh’s famed Fringe Festival), the ACT Theatre,
and the public television special airing in 1993, The Dakota Conflict. He’s appeared on radio and television music shows including Mountain Stage, Good Evening, Prairie Home Companion, Nashville Network, Lonesome Pine Special and Austin City Limits.
Recordings include his 1992 release Duo with Dean Magraw (named one of the Ten Best Albums of the Year 1991 by TowerPulse! Magazine), his brilliant 1989 release Blue Mesa; Buddies of Swing (featuring Jethro Burns, Johnny Gimble, Red Maddock, and Butch Thompson); Peter Ostroushko presents The Mando Boys (those four recordings available on
Red House Records); Down the Streets of My Old Neighborhood and Sluz Duz(both available on Rounder Records). He has recorded on over 100 other records. “Go out of your way to see Pete…” advises Jethro Burns. That’s advice well taken.