Peter Dugan

Peter Dugan began studying piano at age five at the Settlement Music School in Philadelphia. Today, Peter is an accomplished and ambitious musician, a student at the prestigious Juilliard School in New York City, and a Jack Kent Cooke Scholar.

Equally at home playing solo, chamber music, and jazz, Peter sees versatility as his best trait. “My dream is to give a concert where you can play classical in the first half and jazz in the second half,” says Peter. “It’s something that you never hear.”

In 2003, Peter was one of just eight piano students from around the world to be accepted into the Perlman Music Program (PMP) on Shelter Island, NY, run by renowned violinist/conductor Itzhak Perlman. “At PMP, I was thrown headlong into a whole new level of music experience,” remembers Peter. “I was surrounded by musicians who were not only better than me, but were some of the best students in the world. I learned from them how to rehearse, how to collaborate in a musical group, and how to come up with interpretive ideas and present them while listening to the ideas of others.”

Peter’s talents have garnered first prizes at Warminster Symphony, West Chester University, and numerous other national competitions. He earned straight As in high school at St. Joseph’s Preparatory School, and was also a Jack Kent Cooke Young Scholar.

“My future is in no way certain and my goals are often mixed with fantasy,” says Peter. “When I start to doubt myself, remembering that the Jack Kent Cooke Foundation believes in me and is on my side renews my drive and motivates me to keep shooting for the stars.”