For 20 harmonious years, Professor Peter Jarvis devoted his time to music-making and experimentation as a key member of Conn’s Music Department. Following his final semester as a beloved mentor and musician to many, Jarvis and his students reflected on his career and legacy. I had the pleasure of learning from the music maestro as a dancer in the New Music and Improvisation Ensemble, one of Jarvis’s most cherished music contributions.
“This school was lucky to ever have Pete Jarvis on its payroll, and we as students who were able to work with him were the luckiest of them all,” said Seth Wells ‘24, a fellow member of the New Music and Improvisation Ensemble. The Ensemble, which included ten student musicians and dancers during the fall 2022 semester, is one of Jarvis’s greatest projects and legacies at Conn. We performed our final concert with Jarvis in December 2022 in Evans Hall– a poignant, emotional culmination of our work together. A highlight of the evening was “Mudgrave,” a fusion of silent film projection, live music, and dance. The show closed with a true improvisation session– an unrehearsed, unstructured demonstration of the bond and trust we developed together.
Jarvis’s percussion pursuits began when he was in fourth grade at a school music assembly. He was initially assigned to play the trombone, but the drums always called to him. “In my own way, as a ten-year-old kid, I borderline rebelled. I was originally assigned a trombone even though I requested drums. I played trombone, badly, for a year or so, but when I got to fifth grade, I just kept asking the band director if I could play drums instead, and he finally let me trade the trombone in for drumsticks and a pad,” he recalled. His persistence paid off, and he has played the drums ever since. Jarvis’s high school mentor — lauded percussionist Joey Cass — gave him advice that he passed on to his own eager music students: “Just play absolutely every single thing that you’re invited to play, and then find ways to get involved in even more playing experiences, but play everything you can.” The students involved in Jarvis’s final ensemble did just that, moving between instruments spread across Evan Hall’s wooden stage. Jarvis joined, walking from piano to vibraphone to drumset and even to flower pots while conducting students through improvisation scores.
After high school, Jarvis attended William Paterson University to earn his master’s degree in music. Following his graduation, Jarvis performed an impressive feat: in 1984, he led the New Jersey Percussion Ensemble in Charles Wuorinen’s “Percussion Symphony” at The 92nd Street Y, memorizing the entire score. “It took me two years of countless hours, sometimes four, five, six hours a day,” Jarvis recalled. “I didn’t go anywhere without that score.” From family holidays to restaurants to downtime parking lots when he worked as a cab driver in New York, Jarvis’s dedication to musical excellence is one of his most defining qualities. Following the 1984 performance, The New York Times reported, “Peter Jarvis conducted this 40-minute piece without score, yet did full justice to its rhythmic complexities; Mr. Jarvis and his forces richly deserved the standing ovation they received.”
Jarvis was introduced to the new music field at his alma mater by mentor Raymond des Roches, who founded The New Jersey Percussion Ensemble. Jarvis helped co-direct that ensemble while studying, and des Roches passed the baton to him upon his retirement in 2002. From his first year at Conn in 2003, Jarvis established new music as an area of musical study, filling a gap that he noticed in Conn’s music education that primarily focused on older, established works. He explained, “At heart, I’m a traditionalist. Although I’m a new music person, I spent most of my career performing music that comes directly out of the traditions of the 18th and 19th Centuries. I’m not interested in breaking away from tradition, although sometimes it becomes seemingly necessary; rather I am interested in expanding upon and continuing the work of my predecessors.”
Jarvis’s education at William Paterson University taught him the importance of having access to a wide array of percussion instruments for students to succeed and expand their repertoire. Over the years at Conn, he gradually grew the Music Department’s percussion inventory with their annual budget. Thanks to him, students of all experience levels are able to learn new instruments, which is a huge asset for the Ensemble. Students are limited only by their imagination, which never seems to be a problem for the enthusiastic members. “I had a lot of support from [the Department],” Jarvis said. “Conn was fun because of the students, and because we, as a group, received the type of support that allowed me to do whatever I wanted to do. I had complete artistic freedom.”
In addition to conducting, performing, and teaching, Jarvis also performs in film scores, notably composing and performing music for “Moonrise Kingdom,” Wes Anderson’s acclaimed 2012 film.
As much as his students lauded him, Jarvis equally admired his students, emphasizing that teaching and respecting students of all experience levels is key at a liberal arts college. Unlike a conservatory, students at Conn are not always only focusing on music, and many bring various approaches and viewpoints about music to their classes. Trust is key among students and faculty to foster a breeding ground for new music. “I think students at Conn, who generally are exceptionally open-minded, instantly recognized the quality of the music I was exposing them to, and quickly developed confidence in my vision,” Jarvis expressed. “[They] were, therefore, willing to give new music a try. It is gratifying to know so many of my students developed an even deeper passion for music than they already had.” From composing original music for his students that fit their individual skill sets to challenging the Ensemble to play music without a downbeat or with simultaneous different time signatures, Jarvis’s innovative nature inspired generations of Conn students to defy personal and artistic boundaries.
Ensemble dancer Bella Donatelli ‘25 fed off of Jarvis’s energy, conducting musicians in the fall performance with her dancing that resulted in an organic, dynamic swell of music and motion. This improvisation score grew from a rehearsal when Donatelli and the artists played around with different ways of creating. Jarvis encouraged their ingenuity and added it to the program. “At Conn, I was exposed to dancing with live musicians in styles other than ballet and was eager to do more,” Donatelli explained. “Pete was not a dancer, but his knowledge was invaluable across all disciplines. Throughout my time working with him, I learned how to communicate with the musicians, work with new qualities of movement, and had the opportunity to compose a piece. I’m very grateful to have had the opportunity to work with him,”
Wells attended his first Ensemble rehearsal after his friend and talented keyboardist and percussionist, Joe Carroll ‘24, invited him to perform improvised spoken word poetry at a rehearsal. Wells was hooked. “I went, and I am eternally grateful I did,” he recalled. “Bodies flailing across the stage with the grace of wind, me screaming nonsense into a microphone, gongs ringing endlessly, and talented mallet players exploring the outermost limits of their instruments. It was the most beautiful thing I have ever been a part of at this school.”
Wells spoke for the Ensemble members (Dylan Bronowich ‘23, JC Letizia ‘23, Nick Gribbins ‘23, Yeseri Vizcaino ‘23, Joe Carroll ‘24, Sam Rubin ‘24, and Anna Barnocky ‘26) when he emphasized that we are endlessly grateful to have learned from and collaborated with “Pete:” “We created our own language to express our own individual sensibilities towards living in a world that is truly falling apart, and the culmination of all our voices crescendoed into the beautiful space that was the New Music and Improvisation Ensemble. I speak for more than myself when I say Pete Jarvis will be missed but his legacy will live on through the students he taught.” •
