Peter Rushing is a jazz pianist currently attending the Mason Gross School of the Arts at Rutgers University in New Brunswick, New Jersey, where he is studying with Orrin Evans. At the age of 11, Peter got his start studying jazz music at the Philadelphia Clef Club of Jazz and Performing Arts, where he developed a love for the music of Herbie Hancock and Bill Evans. During high school, he played with the Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts Jazz ensemble program under the direction of Josh Lawrence, Anthony Tidd, María Grand, and Sumi Tonooka, and studied with Tom Lawton of Temple University and the University of the Arts. While playing in Kimmel Center groups he performed at venues such as the Kimmel, South Jazz Kitchen, the Barnes Museum, and the Center City Jazz Festival. At Rutgers, he has studied with Bill O’Connell, Conrad Herwig and Robby Ameen, playing in the Rutgers University Jazz Ensemble, and recording with The Scarlet Knight Jazz Trombones and the Jazz Afro-Caribbean Ensemble. He has played in Philly with bassist Dan McCain, and guitarist Michael Raymond, playing on Raymond’s debut album, The Oncoming Storm. Outside of jazz, Peter also has recently joined South Study Special Aide, a rock band based in Central Jersey.