Peter Scott Fish

1956 - 2021

Composer and musician, Peter Fish, whose career spanned from age 15 until he passed away on May 22, 2021, in Los Angeles, CA where he and his fiancée, Tracey Anarella, had recently made their home. He died of cardiac arrest at age 64.

Born in Providence, Rhode Island, he was the youngest of four children, born to Max and Ida Fish. His talent as a gifted musician revealed itself at an early age. After starting his career touring with The Benny Goodman Band as a teenager, Peter decided to move to New York and become a composer for film and television. There he founded National Sound in New York with his former wife, Jennifer Fish. Peter played gigs from the likes of Ray Charles, CTA (California Transit Authority with former Chicago band drummer, Danny Seraphine), Carly Simon, to his very own highly acclaimed band, The Peter Fish Group.

Peter Fish's talents as a composer/arranger/producer span feature films, Top 10 singles, multiple TV series, commercials, and theatre productions. He wrote songs and iconic theme music for various networks including Warner Brothers, CBS, NBC, PBS, HBO, and New York 1. Peter received 17 Emmy nominations with 6 total wins. He was nominated for an Emmy for Best Original Theme Song for his composition, Moment of Luxury for the PBS series of the same name. He won Emmys for Best Original Score for All My Children and his work on Sesame Street, as well as two Telly awards for CBS Eye on America and one for the VPI Commercial Campaign. He also received three ASCAP awards for Most Performed Composer. He recorded and conducted three original compositions commissioned by the Czech National Symphony in Prague.

Peter's two albums, Peter Fish, The Silver Apple, and Numbers are sold and enjoyed by his supporters worldwide. Peter arranged music for The Buddy Rich Band and The California Transit Authority and countless other acts, bands, and artists. In the past eight years Peter and his partner in life and work, Tracey Anarella, worked together to create films for her production company, A-Roll Pictures. Peter wrote the original music and did the audio post for all of her films and oftentimes shot second camera. The Austin Revolution Film Festival granted Peter with Best Soundtrack/Score award for Tracey's film, Not Black Enough. In recent years, Peter was a frequent guest lecturer at the Berklee College of Music. He also began teaching piano and music theory to students worldwide on Zoom. In recent years, Peter was a frequent guest lecturer at the Berklee College of Music. He also began teaching piano and music theory to students worldwide on Zoom.

Peter is survived by his partner in life, Tracey, his stepchildren Chandler and Justin Anarella, his brother, Stanley Fish and his wife Jane Thompson, their daughter Susan Fish, sister-in-law, Anne Fish, nieces Jen Fish and Allie Jones, Jackie Levan and her husband, Pete, Mindy Turk Weber and Bonnie Turk Weick and nephews, Frank Turk and David Fish, his wife Shanda and their daughters Jalyn and Sydney, plus numerous cousins whom he loved dearly. His siblings Ron and Rita preceded him in death. In lieu of flowers, the family requests donations made to CLL Society Inc. and the American Diabetes Association.