Peter Lafford

Peter Lafford grew up on the campus at Hobart and William Smith Colleges in Geneva, New York, where his father, Lindsay Lafford, taught music from 1948-1979. Peter picked up music at his father‘s elbow, singing in various groups until 2001 when he became Choir Director at St. Stephen’s Episcopal Church in Phoenix, Arizona, and then joined the choir at Trinity Episcopal Cathedral, Phoenix, culminating in 2014 with a week’s residency at St. Alban’s outside of London. That was the high point of his musical career until November 2017, when as members of Phoenix’ North Valley Chorale, Peter and his wife, Barbara, completed in three days what Peter calls “The Singer’s Trifecta:” 1. Performing onstage at Radio City Music Hall as a warm-up for the Rockettes’ Christmas Spectacular; 2. Participating in a Hallelujah Chorus Flash Mob in Grand Central Station; and 3. Performing Handel’s Messiah at Carnegie Hall. With degrees in French from Cornell (B.A.) and Middlebury (M.A.), and English from Arizona State (M.A.), Peter has been working with academic technology at Arizona State University since 1989. He currently enjoys singing with the choir at the Episcopal Church of the Transfiguration, in Mesa, AZ.