Monday, December 25, 2006

Peter Buffett - Yonnondio




Peter Andrew Buffett is an American musician, composer, and producer. Buffett is the second son of billionaire investor Warren Buffett and his late wife Susan Buffett.

Narada Productions, a new age music 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, home of Narada Productions and closer to his childhood home in Omaha, Nebraska. 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, Dances With Wolves. The film score, composed by John Barry, would win an Academy Award. 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 in London. Buffett composed two songs on the soundtrack for The Scarlet Letter.

After the release of Yonnondio, Buffett signed with Epic Records, which in 1994 released his soundtrack for the CBS miniseries 500 Nations. 500 Nations was produced by Kevin Costner, who also co-produced Dances With Wolves. The miniseries would win the Emmy Award for Outstanding Miniseries in 1995. Buffett then signed with Hollywood Records, which released his album Spirit Dance in 1997. 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 for Jamie and Robert Redford . At this concert, he performed with Hawk Pope, chief of the United Remnant Band of the Shawnee Nation. Buffett and Pope decided to collaborate, and began touring together in a live version of the PBS Pledge Special "Spirit". In 2005 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.

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