The only accordionist to have launched a solo career with an official debut, Mr. Petric’s recital at London’s St. John’s Smith Square “produced the kind of playing that make audiences of all kinds sit up and listen” (The Independent). The recital was followed by invitations across the Classical concert hall at London’s Southbank, Bunka Kaikan Tokyo and IRCAM. Mr. Petric's forensic integrations of the accordion in the concert hall include thematic recitals of microtonal improvisations with Pauline Oliveros, electroacoustic works, Baroque programs with violoncello da spalla and the complete Trio Sonatas by J.S.Bach. His interpretation of the Accordion Sequenza in the Complete Sequenzas concert for Berio’s 75th birthday celebration at Seiji Ozawa Hall merited citations as a highlight performance in both the Boston Globe and New York Times. Mr. Petric's performance in the chambermusic re-creation of Schubert’s Winterreise at Wigmore Hall with Christoph Prégardien was acclaimed for his “…extraordinary grasp of the accordion’s ability to sound like “breath from another planet” (Classical Source).
The dedicatee of 20 concertos, Mr. Petric’s premiere of the Koprowski Accordion Concerto with the Toronto Symphony Orchestra under Jukka Peka Saraste launched his concerto led career. Highlights include Brian Current’s Koussevitsky Foundation Accordion Concerto, a work of “…amazing lyricism and Petric’s superb sense of rhythmic design” (Halifax Chronicle Herald). Mr. Petric’s extensive tours with Sweden’s Camerata Roman featured his 1996 Reikzkonzerter concerto by Gunnar Valkare at Kalmar Castle. His London premiere of the concerto at St. John's Smith Square was cited for “astonishing bravura...” (Musical Opinion). He has appeared as soloist with the l’Orchestre Symphonique de Québec, the London Symphony, the BBC Orchestra, Kitchener-Waterloo Symphony, Toronto Symphony Orchestra, Boston Modern Orchestra, Vancouver CBC Orchestra, the Vancouver Symphony, and Montréal’s Novel Ensemble Moderne. Mr. Petric gave the American premiere of Sofia Gubaidulina’s Seven Words with conductor Hilel Kagan and strings of the Concertante di Chicago and Chicago Lyric Opera.
Mr. Petric's teaching respects the humanistic values of a liberal arts education, imagination and critical thinking, portals that allow young artists to illuminate connections across diverse and disparate sources. He has led masterclasses, lectured and performed at London's RAM, the Amsterdam Conservatory, Trossingen Hochschule, Paris Conservatoire and most major conservatories across Europe; and in Canada at UBC, WLU, Dalhousie U., McGill-Schulich, UQUAM, Bishop's University and the University of Toronto among others.
The creation of electronic instruments with voltage control systems by Canadian Hugh LeCaine (1914-77) at Canada’s National Research Council in 1945 was driven by his vision that such instruments would be capable of the “beautiful sound and nuance” typical of the orchestral tradition. It was an ideal that Mr. Petric merged with the liminal stereophonic breath of the accordion for his audiences. His strategic collaborations with the Canadian Electronic Ensemble (CEE) and Québec’s Association pour la Création et la Recherche Electroacoustiques du Québec (ACREQ) resulted in 49 digital creations with CD or WAVEfile playback, live processing, digital delay, CX5M and MAC computers, software processing, AI, live video and software applications. The works were introduced in 1986 to his Scandanavian, French and UK audiences positing them firmly in the canon and the digital concert hall.
His more than 80 international performances and a recording on the ConAccord label of Christos Hatzis’s Orbiting Garden were noted by writer Tiina Kiik: “Petric has an international following…his performance of Hatzis’s Orbiting Garden is a powerhouse explosion of florid musical rock star lines… impeccable control of sound shaping the performance between accordion and sound machines … the composers and soloist have created an accessible, culturally important aural experience…to be heard time and again.” (WholeNote)
Audience development through strategic outreach has been integral to Mr. Petric’s artistic vision. His curation of the Big Squeeze Accordion Festival with Harbourfont Centre and the CBC's Two New Hours defied expectations with Mogens Ellegaard, Matti Rantanen, Pauline Oliveros and Mr. Petric improvising and premiering works with the Canadian Electronic Ensemble and premiere performances by Heidi Velamo, Mini Dekkers, Laurie Rosewarne, Daisy DeBolt and Tiina Kiik. Other events curated by Mr. Petric included CBC’s Virtuosi Series at Toronto's Glenn Gould Studio, and numerous Carte Blanche series for Societe Radio Canada from Salle Pierre Mercure, Québec City's Cathedrale de St. Trinite and the Bay de Chaleurs festival.
With Toronto's indubitable David Hetherington, Mr. Petric co-directed the the presentation of the Complete Berio Sequenzas for the University of Toronto New Music Festival. Five hours in length the concert featured narrations of Sanguinetti’s poetry before each Sequenza as directed by Berio, staging by Grahame Cozzubo, and digitized lighting sequences for every Sequenza performed by some of Canada’s leading symphonic and solo artists.