Wise Music Group has announced the acquisition of a controlling interest in Edition Peters Group. The independent publisher made its acquisition from the Hinrichsen Foundation and will own Edition Peters Group in partnership with Christian Hinrichsen, whose family association with the company began in 1863.
One of the world’s oldest music publishing houses, Edition Peters Group has offices in London and New York as well as Leipzig, the city where it was founded in 1800.
In the 19th century, Edition Peters was renowned for its association with classical giants including Bach, Beethoven, Brahms, Mendelssohn, Schumann and Grieg. In the 20th century its catalogue spanned Gustav Mahler, Hugo Wolf, Richard Strauss, Morton Feldman, George Crumb, and John Cage.
Its catalogue of contemporary composers includes Mark Andre, Sally Beamish, Daníel Bjarnason, Gloria Coates, James Dillon, Jonathan Dove, Sebastian Fagerlund, Brian Ferneyhough, Bernd Franke, Ash Fure, Bernhard Gander, Emily Howard, Clara Iannotta, George Lewis, Elena Mendoza, Shawn Okpebholo, Roxanna Panufnik, Roger Reynolds, Rebecca Saunders, Tyshawn Sorey, Erkki-Sven Tüür and Errollyn Wallen.
Wise Music Group is nominated in two categories at the Music Week Awards 2023: Independent Publisher Of The Year (sponsored by PRS) and Sync Team Of The Year.
Speaking about the acquisition, Chris Butler, Wise Music Group’s director of global rights development, and new chairman of Edition Peters Group, said: “This acquisition emphasises Wise Music Group’s commitment to the classical genre and reinforces the group’s long record of investment worldwide. The iconic Peters brand is recognised universally by students, composers and professionals, and its roster of composers over the past 200 years is remarkable. We look forward to building on that unique heritage and legacy”.
An official press release stated that Edition Peters Group will “retain its individual identity within Wise Music Group, alongside Chester Music, G. Schirmer, Associated Music Publishers, Novello & Co, Éditions Alphonse Leduc, Première Music, Le Chant du Monde, Edition Wilhelm Hansen, Unión Musical Ediciones and Bosworth Music GmbH.”
The iconic Peters brand is recognised universally... We look forward to building on that unique heritage and legacy
Chris Butler, Wise Music Group
Hinrichsen Foundation chairman Tim Berg added: “We are delighted to have reached agreement with Wise Music Group and with Christian Hinrichsen. We believe Edition Peters will be at home alongside many iconic names from music publishing history, working closely with a team that is passionate about the classical music. For the Foundation this creates an opportunity confidently to support contemporary music performance within the UK, particularly at this time of significant change”.
Christian Hinrichsen commented: “This is the natural union of two companies with proven track records in the specialist area of contemporary classical music publishing. I look forward to Edition Peters Group having new opportunities to develop its unique catalogue as a member of Wise Music Group’s international family of music publishers”.
In February, Wise Music Group appointed Marcus Wise as CEO for the European region of the independent family business.
The Edition Peters Group aquistion is the latest in a host of developments from the classical music world, following on from Universal Music Group's recent aquisition of British classical label Hyperion Records and Apple rolling out its standalone app, Apple Music Classical.
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