Peter Szendofi is one of the most talented professional drummers and composers in Hungary. He was born in Budapest in 1968. He grew up in a family where music filled their everyday life. His mother is a conductor and assistant professor at the Liszt Ferenc Music University, and a teacher at the Theatrical and Film Academy; his father handcrafts and repairs musical instruments.

Despite the musical milieu in the family Peter was initially interested in fine arts, and he started to play music fairly late at the age of 16. He has studied classical music at the conservatoire. He taught himself to play the drums, therefore his teachers considered him kind of a black sheep. Back in those days rock and jazz were forbidden genres in the instruction of classical music. Billy Cobham had a great influence on Peter and he started to put down the drummer’s songs note by note.

His first drum teacher was Emil Riha (his mother’s colleague) who is a widely recognized musician in the theatrical profession. Peter is grateful to him for his exactitude and sophisticated musical taste that he taught him, which significantly determined Peter’s musical attitude.
He graduated from the faculty of Jazz at the Liszt Ferenc Music University in 1992 and he has been playing in several jazz groups and bands since then.

He formed his first band right after graduation, named Fusio Quartet. They only played their own jazz-fusion compositions conceived and arranged by Peter. The band’s first record “Life Rhythm” was released in 1995 which received honorable praise from the music experts. At this time Peter wanted a lot more, so he decided to pack his bag and set out on a great journey to the United States, New York, to the homeland of the genre. From all the applicants at the Drummers Collective School he was reckoned as the most talented one and he was honored with holistic scholarship for a semester. Peter left to New York in 1995 to learn from the best ones like Dave Weckl, Dennis Chambers, Steve Smith, Zach Danziger, Freddie Gruber, (the former teacher of Buddy Rich), Kim Plainfield and he took private lessons from a long time friend Jojo Mayer.

Fusio Quartet’s next recording called ‘Attitudes’ (Periferic Records) was released in 1999 with Peter’s compositions and was followed by a tour in Hungary. After all his activity, it was obvious for Peter to come out with a solo album named ’TriAgel’ (Tom-Tom Records) in 2005 with the top notch musicians in Hungary and featuring a special guest, the world famous bass player Gary Willis. The album’s extra curiosity is that it does not only include Peter’s compositions, but a few from Gary Willis, as well.

As a result of this collective project with Gary they formed a band in 2006, named Loop Doctors /Gary Willis –bass, Romhanyi Aron – keyboard& rap, Szendofi Peter –drums and sequencer programs/ and recorded their first Drum'n'bass, Jungle, Breakbeat, NuJazz album in that very year flavored with jazz improvisations, rap and many-many surprising effects. The album is called High Voltage (KCG Records). This album won the biggest Hungarian musical award, Fonogram-Award in 2007 as "The Best Jazz Album, 2006". Since then the Loop Doctors did numerous tours in Hungary and some concerts in London and the Czech Republic as well with Gary Willis and the world famous L.A. saxophone player Brandon Fields.

In January of 2007 Fusio Group recorded their fourth progressive and hard edged Jazz Fusion album titled ’Stickman’, and fifth album called "Soul Food" in 2010, which was released at Tom-Tom Records. Looking back the 15 year-long history of the band we can state that this album is the most matured and varied recording so far. They all took a major step forward to form their unique sound and style.

Peter is one of the most frequently employed drummers in Hungary. He conducts courses, his performance is recorded on many discs and he performs on festivals and concerts almost in all forms of musical art. He is also a senior lecturer at the faculty of Jazz at Kodolanyi Janos University.

Awards:

- Golden Sticks Award /two times, 2003, 2004/ from the Hungarian Percussionist's Foundation.
- Artisjus Award /2001/ for big steps developing and performing the contemporary music in Hungary
- EmeRTon Award /2006/ The music award of the Hungarian National Radio and Television, for the Fusio Group, as "The Jazz Group Of The Year, 2005"
- Fonogram Award /2007/ for the Loop Doctors - Gary Willis: High Voltage album, as "The Best Jazz Album Of The Year, 2006"

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