Wednesday

Peter Bucknell


I'm a writer, a classical musician and a documentary film maker. I still dive, but performing and teaching viola and violin and writing fiction have taken over.

I've lived in London, Los Angeles, New York City, Potsdam, Cologne, Brussels, Melbourne, Sydney and Barcelona, but they were all chosen for me by either music studies, or work.

Moving to my final destination at the age of forty-nine was rougher than any previous change of address, and I expect never to move city again.
 

New York City had its claws in me for twenty years during which time I went from Doctoral viola student to Professor, from SCUBA diving instructor to cave diver and underwater film maker, from blogger to reporter for the New York Post, and from commercial video editor to documentary film producer.

Moving to Spain meant speaking another language, practicing up on the viola again, having left it for nearly a decade. The Barcelona Symphony welcomed me, inviting me to lead the section from time to time, which I found challenging – I wasn't used to it anymore.
I moved myself back into the section as a freelancer for a few years, and still play occasionally in the opera orchestra housed in the beautiful Liceu Opera House.

I met my wife back in 2001. Her career as an opera singer has been fun to watch. She has my total respect, surviving in the opera world for nearly thirty years.

I spend a great deal of time on the water, paddle surfing, sailing and diving.

I've published a couple of instructional books in my areas of expertise, and also two in a series of spy fiction novels, written under a pen name. 

The Vietnam documentary that I shot and edited is available here.