Peter Balhar (2001) is a drummer and composer from Prague, currently residing in Copenhagen. He’s mainly involved in the jazz tradition, improvised music and performance art.

In December 2024, Peter and singer Milica Hadžić released their debut duo album “STOP SCARING THE CUSTOMERS”, under the Belgian label Klankhaven Records.

The duo MLŽI works with a wide range of expressive tools, valuing both radical mildness and aggressive assertiveness. Their music incorporates elements of jazz tradition, African and Brazilian beats, noise, post-punk, and Serbian folk music, all flowing seamlessly through free improvisation.

In 2023, Peter released his first solo work, HEJNO, which showcases his compositional prowess and features some of the most prominent players of the Czech music scene – Nela Dusová, Martin Debřička, Jan Michálek, and Klára Pudláková.

HEJNO is a five-headed avant-garde/jazz/indie-pop beast; the music is aggressive and tender simultaneously, with moods and colors changing constantly in the flow of songs and improvisation.

Among his other projects is Trio Henya. The group released several albums and has recorded for and been broadcasted on the Czech Radio (2022) and Radio Belgrade (2024). The band was chosen to represent Czechia on the Edinburgh Jazz & Blues Festival in 2024.

Peter is a member of the Czech improvisation orchestra PMP Ensemble. The ensemble performed music of Anthony Braxton and Roscoe Mitchell in direct collaboration with both of them.

In January 2024, Peter founded a concert calendar for angular music in Prague, PraMu.cz.

He is a member of the European Music Collective, a union of 21 improvisers based across Europe. EMC has organized workshops and tours throughout Europe. In August 2024, it hosted its first artistic residency in Sidrabiņi, Latvia, and will soon release its collective debut album.

Peter obtained his Bachelor of Arts at The Academy of Performing Arts in Prague in 2023 and is currently pursuing a Master’s program in music performance at RMC in Copenhagen, Denmark.

Among others, he studied with Petter Eldh, Nick Dunston, Christian Lillinger, Ari Hoenig, Kresten Osgood, Lotte Anker, Kasper Tranberg, and Burkhard Beins.