Peter Roennfeldt performs regularly with period instrument chamber and vocal ensembles. In addition to directing various Queensland Conservatorium choirs and opera productions, Peter founded the Cantilena Singers which presented a wide range of baroque repertoire during the 1990s. In recent years, the flexible vocal-instrumental ensemble Peter Roennfeldt and Friends has continued this work with a focus on chamber music and sacred repertoire. With these various groups he has directed major works including Vespers of 1610 by Monteverdi, Purcell’s Dido and Aeneas, Handel’s Dixit Dominus, Messiah and Semele, Buxtehude’s Membra Jesu Nostri and several cantatas and the Magnificat by JS Bach. Another specialist strand is French repertoire from the time of Louis XIV. Peter created new performing editions from original sources of several chamber operas, including Charpentier’s Les plaisirs de Versailles and Les Arts Florissants, Lalande’s Les fontaines de Versailles, all of which were local, and possibly Australian, premieres.

He is also founder-director of Soirées Musicales Quintette which performs diverse romantic-era solo and ensemble vocal music, mostly in heritage venues. A graduate of Queensland and Adelaide universities, Peter studied in the USA in Boston and Cincinnati, gaining a Doctor of Musical Arts majoring in piano and choral conducting with adjunct studies in harpsichord. For thirty years he lectured at Queensland Conservatorium Griffith University, serving also as Director for seven years and currently as Emeritus Professor. A passionate researcher of Queensland’s cultural history, he has published seven books and numerous articles on various historical topics. In addition, he regularly presents thematic series of early music programs for 4MBS Classic FM