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Peter Ostroushko has come to be regarded as one of the finest mandolin and fiddle players in acoustic music. A world-class talent of enormous facility and sensitivity, his tours have taken him to the stages of clubs, performing arts centers, music festivals and theaters across North America and Europe, and he has earned an international reputation as a versatile and dazzling master of instrumentation and composition. Ostroushko's most recent solo recording "Heart of the Heartland" is a transfixing aural landscape, almost cinematic in beauty, and has earned Ostroushko comparisons not only to the great composer Aaron Copland but also to photographer Ansel Adams. It also earned a N.A.I.R.D. Indie Award, the highest honor from the independent music recording industry. His recording credits 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 Ostroushko remains unequaled: 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 Rockabye (Elektra). Where Ostroushko is at his most passionate is when Ostroushko plays Ostroushko - a rich ethnic mix at the heart of which is his Ukrainian heritage. His term for his gumbo of musical styles is "slüz düz", a phrase borrowed from his mother meaning, roughly, "over the edge" or "off his rocker." Indeed, Ostroushko is something of a first-generation hero in the Ukrainian community of North America (and, to his surprise, one town even held a parade in his honor!). Not surprisingly, Ostroushko's resume is dizzying in size and scope. He's played lead ukelele with the Minnesota Symphony Orchestra under the direction of Sir Neville Mariner. He's barked like a dog on The David Letterman 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 1993 public television special documentary "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 1995 instrumental masterpiece Heart of the Heartland, heralded by national and trade press including a Billboard Publisher's column and numerous nods on Best of 1995 lists and earning the prestigious N.A.I.R.D. Indie Award and was named Folk Album of the Year by MplsSt.Paul Magazine. Ostroushko's 1992 release DUO with frequent touring partner Dean Magraw was awarded an Honorable Mention for N.A.I.R.D.'s Best String Album, and was named one of the Ten Best Albums of 1991 by TowerPulse! Magazine. Other releases include Blue Mesa; Buddies of Swing (featuring Jethro Burns, Johnny Gimble, Red Maddock, and Butch Thompson); Peter Ostroushko presents The Mando Boys (those five recordings available on Red House Records); Down the Streets of My Old Neighborhood and Slüz Düz(both available on Rounder Records). He has recorded on over 200 other records and received a 1995 Minnesota Music Award. Music from Heart of the Heartland will be used in the forthcoming Ken Burns documentary on the Lewis & Clarke expedition. Ostroushko has just finished recording his first all-song album, (working title) Pilgrims of the Heartroad, featuring guest vocals by Bobby McFerrin. The album is tentatively slated for a winter release from Red House Records. By the way, the name "Ostroushko" is pronounced "Oh-STREW-shko" and translated from the Ukrainian means "sharp ears." Peter prefers to think of that translation in its musical sense... |
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