Peter J. Warshaw was born in March of 1956 in Lubbock, Texas, the youngest of the four children of Dr. Harold Warshaw and his wife Nell. While it was the wish of Dr. Warshaw that at least one of his four children would grow up to become a physician, this was not to be; however, three of them grew up to be teachers.

Peter started his band career in 7th grade at Atkins Junior High School under the direction of Orland Butler and selected the cornet. As an eighth grader, he made the switch to French horn. He diligently practiced and improved. The spark was lit for Peter to become a band director in 8th grade, when he was given the opportunity to rehearse the junior high band while his director attended TMEA. Since that time, his career goal was to become a band director.

Peter attended Monterey High School and played in both band and orchestra all three years and was drum major in the marching band as a senior. His band director was Doyle Gammill. Peter believes that if he were still with us, Mr. Gammill would have been one of the first to call him and congratulate him on his selection to the Hall of Fame.

Peter attended Southern Methodist University, where he was able to meet and learn from people who later became good friends and mentors such as Philip Geiger, Bob Brandenberger, and Howard Dunn. He graduated in 1978, though he didn’t get his first job until the TBA Convention that summer, going to work in Klein ISD with Philip Geiger and Tony Lewis at Wunderlich Intermediate School.
Peter’s career progressed quickly in Klein. He became the head director at Strack Intermediate School in Klein in his third year of teaching. It was during this time that he met and became a student of Eddie Green. Mr. Green was to have a profound influence on his growth and development as a band director, teacher, and musician.

In 1982, Peter became the head director at Westwood Junior High School in Richardson ISD, where he stayed for two years before moving to JJ Pearce High School in 1984, working with and learning from Tom Bennett, Matthew McInturf, Lynne Jackson, Marion West, and many other outstanding band directors in Richardson. Bands under his direction earned Best-in-Class awards at festivals in Galveston, Corpus Christi, Orlando, FL, San Diego, CA, and Shenandoah VA, in addition to earning First Division awards in all UIL Concert/Sight-Reading Evaluations.

After serving as an assistant band director at Pearce for nine years, Peter became the Director of Bands in 1993, a position he held until 2002. During this time, the band continued its tradition of successful concert performances, performing twice by invitation in Carnegie Hall, and being named the TMEA Class 4A Honor Band in 2001. Additionally, the JJ Pearce band program also earned its second Sudler Flag of Honor in 2000.

In 2002, Peter’s wife Lara enrolled in Medical School at Texas A&M, which required a relocation and new job in Bryan ISD as the Orchestra Director and Coordinator of Music. Peter became the full time Coordinator of Fine Arts in 2004.
This was a stepping stone to the job Peter held for the final 17 years of his career as the Fine Arts Director in Leander ISD. Under his leadership and guidance, Leander ISD music ensembles were named a TMEA Honor Band or Invited Band six times, gave eleven performances at the Midwest Clinic, eight performances at the Western International Band Clinic, and three performances at PASIC. They also received three Sudler Cups, two Sudler Flags, and three Sudler Shields, as well as eight UIL State Marching Band Championships and one BOA Grand National Championship, setting a standard of excellence that remains to this day. Peter is especially proud that the Leander ISD bands continue to be successful under the leadership of his successor, Mike Howard.

Peter received the TBA Lifetime Administrator Award for 2016 and was named Music Administrator of the Year by the Texas Music Administrators Conference in 2014. He is a life member of the International Percy Grainger Society and received the Grainger Medallion in 1998, in recognition of his distinctive contribution to the music of Percy Grainger with the transcription and publication of Eastern Intermezzo. He is a frequent presenter at TMEA, TBA, CEDFA, the Midwest Clinic, and the Sam Houston State University Center for Music Education, and has served as a guest lecturer at Sam Houston State University and The University of Texas at Austin. He is in great demand as an adjudicator, clinician, and speaker throughout the state and is a published writer, music transcriber, and poet.

Sadly, Peter’s wife Lara passed away in September of 2006, a result of her long struggle with depression. Her death by suicide was a crushing blow, and Peter deeply regrets that Lara is not here to share moments such as this one, as well as not being able to fulfill her promising career as a physician.

With his unique perspective as a survivor of suicide, Peter has dedicated his life to being as open as possible about his experiences in hopes of helping others who are in similar situations. He has given multiple presentations about depression, grief, and surviving the suicide of a loved one at TMEA and Midwest, to teachers, and to students, including the students at Lara’s medical school six months after her death. He is currently the group facilitator of the Austin Survivors of Suicide, a group that meets twice monthly and brings survivors together to share their stories and help each other. Additionally, he commissioned Frank Ticheli to write a flute concerto in Lara’s memory (Lara was a Texas All-State flute player). The piece, Silver Linings, has been performed all over the country, and Peter often travels to the performances to speak with the bands or the audience to explain the significance of the work and to share Lara’s story with them.

Since his retirement in 2022, Peter continues to help band programs as a clinician and adjudicator in Texas and also serves as the Executive Secretary of the Texas Fine Arts Administrators Association.

Peter is proud to be a 2024 inductee into the Phi Beta Mu Texas Bandmasters Hall of Fame and is grateful for his many mentors and influencers who have played such a huge role in his success, especially Bob Brandenberger, Howard Dunn, Philip Geiger, Tony Lewis, Tom Bennett, Matthew McInturf, Lynne Jackson, Dr. Lara Barnett, Eddie Green, Mike Mamminga, and Richard Crain. He is also appreciative of the many students with whom it was a privilege to work and learn from.