The only accordionist to have launched a solo career with an official debut, Mr. Petric’s 1992 recital at London’s St. John’s Smith Square “produced the kind of playing that would make audiences of all kinds sit up and listen” (The Independent). The recital was followed by invitations for solo appearances across the Classical concert hall at London’s Southbank, Bunka Kaikan Tokyo, IRCAM Agora Festival, the Phillips Gallery Washington, and the Berlin Philharmonie. Mr. Petric’s recitals range from microtonal improvisations with Pauline Oliveros, the complete Trio Sonatas by J.S.Bach at Montréal’s le Chapelle du bon Pasteur, Baroque works at Washington’s Phillips Gallery, new music live to air broadcasts for Societe Radio Canada, and the integration of electroacoustic innovation for general audiences. His performance of Berio’s Accordion Sequenza in the Complete Sequenzas presentation by members of the Boston Symphony on the occasion of Berio’s 75th birthday at Seiji Ozawa Hall merited a highlight citation in both the Boston Globe and New York Times. Mr Petric's performance of Schubert’s Winterreise at Wigmore Hall with tenor Christoph Prégardien was cited by London critic Paul Reed 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 performance of the Koprowski Accordion Concerto with the Toronto Symphony Orchestra under Jukka Peka Saraste launched his concerto led career. Concerto commission highlights include Brian Current’s Accordion Concerto, a work of “…amazing climaxes, lyricism and Petric’s superb sense of rhythmic design” (Halifax Chronicle Herald), the concerto commissioned by New York’s Koussevitsky Foundation and premiered with Symphony Nova Scotia under Bernhard Gueller. Mr. Petric’s extensive tours with Sweden’s Camerata Roman included performances of his 1996 Swedish Reikzkonzerter concerto commission by Gunnar Valkare at Kalmar Castle. The concerto’s performance by Mr. Petric at London's St. John’s Smith Square was cited for it's “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 the Chicago Lyric Opera.
A committed teacher Mr. Petric is a masterclass leader, lecturer and recitalist at international schools including London’s Royal Academy of Music, Copenhagen Conservatory, Jyvaskylla Conservatorio, Ikallinen, Trossingen Hochschule für Musik, Amsterdam Conservatory, Penderecki Academy, Paris-Strasburg-Lille Conservatoires, and the Szymanowksi and Paderewski Akademies. In Canada Mr Petric has taught and juried at the University of British Columbia, Wilfred Laurier University, Dalhousie Music School, McGill-Schulich Music, the University of Toronto, and Rimouski Conservatoire. He is professor of graduate studies at the Faculté de Musique, Université de Montréal (Québec).
The creation of electronic instruments with voltage control systems by Hugh LeCaine (1914-77) at Canada’s National Research Council beginning 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 in his creation of new sound worlds for contemporary audiences in . his decades long collaborations with the Canadian Electronic Ensemble (CEE) and Québec’s Association pour la Création et la Recherche Electroacoustiques du Québec (ACREQ) that continue to deliver a unique performative genre with CD or WAVEfile playback, live processing, digital delay, CX5M computers, MAC software processing, AI, video and live software applications.
Mr Petric premiered his first generation of electroacoustic commissions by composers Jaeger, Hatch, and Hatzis in his 1986 solo Scandinavian concert tour of Copenhagen, Oslo, Stockholm, and Helsinki’s Balderin Sali. His more than 80 international performances and recording on the ConAccord label of Christos Hatzis’s Orbiting Garden were cited by critic 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)
The importance of audience development through strategic creative outreach has been integral to Mr. Petric’s artistic vision. His concept of the 1991 Big Squeeze accordion festival in collaboration with Toronto Harbourfont's AD Derek Andrews and the CBC's Two New Hours presented an array of 32 international artists including Pauline Oliveros, Flacko Jimminez, El Cigueto de Jagua, and Queen Ida. The festival's inclusive initiatives defied expectations with Mogens Ellegaard, Matti Rantanen and Pauline Oliveros improvising with the Canadian Electronic Ensemble, and Pauline Oliveros headlining a concert with the ensemble Sound Pressure. The festival's gender balanced line-up with Heidi Velamo, Mini Dekkers, Laurie Rosewarne, Daisy DeBolt and Tiina Kiik was subsequently memed by presentations in Amsterdam and Moscow.
Mr. Petric's curations also include CBC’s Virtuosi Series at Glenn Gould Studio, his Carte Blanche live to air concert for Société Radio Canada from Salle Pierre Mercure, Montréal; and a Carte Blanche for Societe Radio Canada, Québec City.
In a signal contribution to the Canadian scene, Petric conceived the Complete Berio Sequenzas evening for the University of Toronto New Music Festival co-directed with cellist David Hetherington. Five hours in length, the concert featured narrations of Sanguinetti’s poetry before each Sequenza as directed by Berio, staging by Grahame Cozzubo, digitized lighting sequences for every Sequenza, and performances by Canada’s leading symphonic and solo artists.