Peter Schwarz

Background

About Peter Schwarz

As a lifelong working musician and businessperson, Peter’s career focus has been to provide tools and strategies to help creatives enhance their business competencies. In the past five years, as co-founder of Sound Music Cities, a music ecosystem consultancy, Peter has led research surveying over music people in 7 U.S. cities, providing in-depth analysis and evidence-based recommendations for public policymakers, nonprofits, and creatives to help local music scenes flourish. In the late 1990s, acting on his passion to combine rigorous business education with his creative experience, Peter transitioned from a successful touring band to pursue an MBA at the University of Texas at Austin. He later joined with famed Austin music entrepreneur Ray Benson and for 14 years managed a 20+ person company of creatives, launching many new initiatives, such as a Broadway-scale touring musical, a Grammy-winning record label, and near-constant touring of artists Asleep at the Wheel and others. Peter continues to perform in the Austin music scene as a Cajun fiddler. He also teaches at intensive weeklong music camps, such as Augusta Heritage Workshops and Louisiana Folk Roots.