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Brain Freeze! Alumnus' Record Label Releases Benefit DVD

Peter Homans, a member of Washington and Lee’s Class of 1972 who has blended his musical and business skills, is practically a walking advertisement for a liberal arts education. In the Spring/Summer 2010 issue of the alumni magazine, we wrote about his PARMA Recordings, which had just released “Tendrils,” a CD containing music by Peter; Byron Petty, a professor in the W&L Music Department; and the late Robert Stewart, the founder of that department. You can read that article here.

And now Peter’s company has issued a new work, this time a DVD under the aegis of Big Round Records. Titled “Brain Freeze,” it’s a DVD of the stand-up act of comic John Kawie, who had a stroke at age 47. Kawie chronicles his recovery in his act. After startup costs, PARMA will donate 17 percent of retail sales to the American Stroke Foundation.

Peter has a B.A. in English plus two master’s of music degrees. He worked as assistant business manager and primary musical assistant to the famed composer and conductor Leonard Bernstein. He received two fellowships to the Tanglewood Music Center and won the Aaron Copland Prize for Composition. He also worked with Bear Stearns, the investment bank and brokerage. He founded his own broker/dealer research firm and branched out into the music industry as a composer and an investor in PARMA.

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