Peter Andrew Buffett is an American

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 musician, composer, author and producer. Buffett is the second son of investor

Investor

An investor is a party that makes an investment into one or more categories of assets --- equity, debt securities, real estate, currency, commodity, derivatives such as put and call options, etc...

 Warren Buffett

Warren Buffett

Warren Edward Buffett is an American business magnate, investor, and philanthropist. He is widely regarded as one of the most successful investors in the world. Often introduced as "legendary investor, Warren Buffett", he is the primary shareholder, chairman and CEO of Berkshire Hathaway. He is...

 and his late wife Susan Buffett

Susan Buffett

Susan Thompson Buffett , the first wife of investor Warren Buffett, was active in civil rights, abortion rights and population control causes. She was a director of Berkshire Hathaway, owning 2.2 percent of the company at the time of her death. She was the 153rd richest person in the world...

.

Biography

Peter Buffett was born in Omaha, Nebraska, and graduated from Central High School in downtown Omaha. He attended Stanford University

Stanford University

The Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University or Stanford, is a private research university on an campus located near Palo Alto, California. It is situated in the northwestern Santa Clara Valley on the San Francisco Peninsula, approximately northwest of San...

.

Artistic career

Buffett began his musical career in the early part of the 1980s in San Francisco

San Francisco, California

San Francisco , officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the financial, cultural, and transportation center of the San Francisco Bay Area, a region of 7.15 million people which includes San Jose and Oakland...

. There, he produced albums for local talent. He also was hired by ad agencies

Advertising agency

An advertising agency or ad agency is a service business dedicated to creating, planning and handling advertising for its clients. An ad agency is independent from the client and provides an outside point of view to the effort of selling the client's products or services...

 to author commercials

Advertising

Advertising is a form of communication used to persuade an audience to take some action with respect to products, ideas, or services. Most commonly, the desired result is to drive consumer behavior with respect to a commercial offering, although political and ideological advertising is also common...

 and logo

Logo

A logo is a graphic mark or emblem commonly used by commercial enterprises, organizations and even individuals to aid and promote instant public recognition...

s for MTV

MTV

MTV, formerly an initialism of Music Television, is an American network based in New York City that launched on August 1, 1981. The original purpose of the channel was to play music videos guided by on-air hosts known as VJs....

 and CNN

CNN

Cable News Network is a U.S. cable news channel founded in 1980 by Ted Turner. Upon its launch, CNN was the first channel to provide 24-hour television news coverage, and the first all-news television channel in the United States...

, both of which were at the time new on cable television

Cable television

Cable television is a system of providing television programs to consumers via radio frequency signals transmitted to televisions through coaxial cables or digital light pulses through fixed optical fibers located on the subscriber's property, much like the over-the-air method used in traditional...

 in the United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

. Agencies also hired Buffett to write commercials for Coca-Cola

Coca-Cola

Coca-Cola is a carbonated soft drink sold in stores, restaurants, and vending machines in more than 200 countries. It is produced by The Coca-Cola Company of Atlanta, Georgia, and is often referred to simply as Coke...

 and other notable clients.

Narada Productions

Narada Productions

Narada is a record label formed 1983 as an independent New Age music label and distributed by MCA Records. Now a fully owned subsidiary of EMI, Narada evolved through an expansion of formats to include music from other styles including world music, jazz, Celtic music, new flamenco, acoustic guitar...

, a new age music

New Age music

New Age music is music of various styles intended to create artistic inspiration, relaxation, and optimism. It is used by listeners for yoga, massage, meditation, and reading as a method of stress management or to create a peaceful atmosphere in their home or other environments, and is often...

 recording company, signed Buffett to a recording contract. In 1987, Buffett debuted with Narada, releasing an album entitled The Waiting. While working on his second album, One by One, Buffett moved to Milwaukee

Milwaukee, Wisconsin

Milwaukee is the largest city in the U.S. state of Wisconsin, the 28th most populous city in the United States and 39th most populous region in the United States. It is the county seat of Milwaukee County and is located on the southwestern shore of Lake Michigan. According to 2010 census data, the...

, home of Narada Productions and closer to his childhood home in Omaha, Nebraska

Omaha, Nebraska

Omaha is the largest city in the state of Nebraska, United States, and is the county seat of Douglas County. It is located in the Midwestern United States on the Missouri River, about 20 miles north of the mouth of the Platte River...

. Buffett would release two more albums with Narada: Lost Frontier and Yonnondio.

While with Narada, Buffett had his first major success, scoring and choreographing the "Fire Dance" in the film

Film

A film, also called a movie or motion picture, is a series of still or moving images. It is produced by recording photographic images with cameras, or by creating images using animation techniques or visual effects...

, Dances with Wolves

Dances with Wolves

Dances with Wolves is a 1990 epic western film directed by and starring Kevin Costner. It is a film adaptation of the 1988 book of the same name by Michael Blake and tells the story of a Union Army Lieutenant who travels to the American frontier to find a military post, and his dealings with a...

. The film score

Film score

A film score is original music written specifically to accompany a film, forming part of the film's soundtrack, which also usually includes dialogue and sound effects...

, composed by John Barry

John Barry (composer)

John Barry Prendergast, OBE was an English conductor and composer of film music. He is best known for composing the soundtracks for 12 of the James Bond films between 1962 and 1987...

, would win an Academy Award

Academy Awards

An Academy Award, also known as an Oscar, is an accolade bestowed by the American Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to recognize excellence of professionals in the film industry, including directors, actors, and writers...

. After Buffett played at the film's 1991 premiere, John Barry invited Buffett to collaborate with him once again, this time at the Abbey Road Studios

Abbey Road Studios

Abbey Road Studios is a recording studio located at 3 Abbey Road, St John's Wood, City of Westminster, London, England. It was established in November 1931 by the Gramophone Company, a predecessor of British music company EMI, its present owner...

 in London

London

London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...

. Buffett composed two songs on the soundtrack for The Scarlet Letter

The Scarlet Letter (1995 film)

The Scarlet Letter is a 1995 American film adaptation of the Nathaniel Hawthorne novel of the same name. It was directed by Roland Joffé and stars Demi Moore, Gary Oldman, and Robert Duvall. This version was "freely adapted" from Hawthorne and deviated from the original story. Universally panned by...

.

After the release of Yonnondio, Buffett signed with Epic Records

Epic Records

Epic Records is an American record label, owned by Sony Music Entertainment. Though it was originally conceived as a jazz imprint, it has since expanded to represent various genres. L.A...

, which in 1994 released his soundtrack for the CBS

CBS

CBS Broadcasting Inc. is a major US commercial broadcasting television network, which started as a radio network. The name is derived from the initials of the network's former name, Columbia Broadcasting System. The network is sometimes referred to as the "Eye Network" in reference to the shape of...

 miniseries

Miniseries

A miniseries , in a serial storytelling medium, is a television show production which tells a story in a limited number of episodes. The exact number is open to interpretation; however, they are usually limited to fewer than a whole season. The term "miniseries" is generally a North American term...

 500 Nations

500 Nations

500 Nations is an eight part documentary on the Native Americans of North and Central America. It documents from pre-Columbian to the end of the 19th century. Much of the information comes from text, eyewitnesses, pictorials, and computer graphics....

, which was produced by Kevin Costner

Kevin Costner

Kevin Michael Costner is an American actor, singer, musician, producer, director, and businessman. He has been nominated for three BAFTA Awards, won two Academy Awards, and two Golden Globe Awards. Costner's roles include Lt. John J...

, who also co-produced Dances with Wolves. The miniseries would win the Emmy Award

Emmy Award

An Emmy Award, often referred to simply as the Emmy, is a television production award, similar in nature to the Peabody Awards but more focused on entertainment, and is considered the television equivalent to the Academy Awards and the Grammy Awards .A majority of Emmys are presented in various...

 for Outstanding Miniseries in 1995.

In 1996, Buffett produced Star of Wonder, a Christmas CD featuring Celtic

Celtic music

Celtic music is a term utilised by artists, record companies, music stores and music magazines to describe a broad grouping of musical genres that evolved out of the folk musical traditions of the Celtic people of Western Europe...

 harpist Kim Robertson. Buffett married his wife Jennifer Buffett in June 1996. Buffett then signed with Hollywood Records

Hollywood Records

Hollywood Records is an American record label owned by Disney Music Group, a subsidiary of the Walt Disney Company.-History:Hollywood Records was founded in 1989 by then-Disney CEO Michael Eisner with the idea of expanding the music operations of the company and to develop and promote...

, which released his album Spirit Dance in 1997.

In 1998, Peter Buffett entered the pop music realm with the release of Comet9s "Like Mercury" on Milwaukee-based independent label Don't Records, with Buffett producing, writing and playing multi-instrumentalist. Co-writer and guitarist Tom Nelson and vocalist Susan Zielke completed the studio trio, with Citizen King

Citizen King

Citizen King was an American music group from Milwaukee, Wisconsin, whose style was a mix of hip-hop, soul and punk. They are best known for their top 40 hit "Better Days ", which peaked at #25 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart in 1999....

 members D. J. Brooks and Malcolm Michiles guesting on drums and turntables, respectively. The live band added bassist Josh Warner to the lineup.

In 1999, his score for the documentary Wisconsin: An American Portrait won the Emmy for Best Soundtrack.

Also in 1999, Buffett was involved with a benefit concert

Benefit concert

A benefit concert or charity concert is a concert, show or gala featuring musicians, comedians, or other performers that is held for a charitable purpose, often directed at a specific and immediate humanitarian crisis. Such events raise both funds and public awareness to address the cause at...

 for Jamie and Robert Redford

Robert Redford

Charles Robert Redford, Jr. , better known as Robert Redford, is an American actor, film director, producer, businessman, environmentalist, philanthropist, and founder of the Sundance Film Festival. He has received two Oscars: one in 1981 for directing Ordinary People, and one for Lifetime...

. At this concert, he performed with Hawk Pope, chief of the United Remnant Band of the Shawnee Nation

United Remnant Band of the Shawnee Nation

The United Remnant Band of the Shawnee Nation is a band of people claiming Native American ancestry who hold that they are descended from the Shawnee from before the Shawnee's removal from the U.S. state of Ohio...

. Buffett and Pope decided to collaborate, and began touring together in a live version of the PBS Pledge Special "Spirit". In 2004 an updated version of the Buffett-created and composed "Spirit" was performed on the National Mall during the opening of the Smithsonian National Museum of the American Indian in its own state-of-the-art 800 seat theater tent.

In 2006, he released his first vocal album, Gold Star. In May 2010, his book, Life Is What You Make It: Finding Your Own Path to Fulfillment, was published.

Discography

• The Waiting (1987)
• One by One (1989)
• Lost Frontier (1991)
• Yonnondio (1992)
• 500 Nations - A Musical Journey (1994)
• Star of Wonder - Peter Buffett & New World Ensemble (1996)
• Spirit Dance (1997)
• Like Mercury (with Comet9) (1998)
• Wisconsin: An American Portrait (1998)
• Spirit: A Journey in Dance Drums & Song (live) (1999)
• Triathlon: Through the Eyes of the Elite (2000)
• Songs from an Eastside Attic (2001)
• Ojibwe - We Look In All Directions (2002)
• Spirit - The Seventh Fire (live) (2005)
• Inside Looking Out (2006)
• Gold Star (2006)
• Staring at the Sun (2007)
• Imaginary Kingdom (2008)
• Running Blind (2011) (15 songs released on USB drive)

External links

• The official site of Peter Buffett