Stephen Peisch. (Photo by Richard Wolfson)

To hear Still River composer Stephen Peisch describe his creative process as “noodling about on the piano” is to have the impression of someone puttering about in the garden, resulting in a haphazard profusion of gardening happenstance. This is far from the truth, however, as a recent interview with Peisch at his home revealed. While he talked modestly about his experiences as a composer, performer, and educator, the interview unveiled an artist with an unbounded passion for exploration and a very full life: Peisch recently heard the debut of his original work “Three Poems for Chorus”, performed with the Blue Box Set trio on Fender bass; and Monday through Friday went to work as the chairman of the Arts Department at Lawrence Academy.

After receiving a commission from the Alfred E. Nash Foundation to write an original work based on the poetry of Langston Hughes, Peisch heard the work performed for the public for the first time last May. The Westford Chorus, under the direction of Daniel Rowntree, sang “Three Poems for Chorus” as part of the “Americana II” program. Peisch said that he felt drawn to the emotional complexity underlying the deceptively simple language of Hughes’s poems. “[It was] easy to create music for these very beautiful and very singable poems,” he said. In addition, he had high praise for the chorus’s performance and for Rowntree’s ability to “get” the emotional quality of the poems.

Performing with the Blue Box Set, a rhythm and blues trio, would seem a big departure from writing choral compositions, but hearing Peisch play and sing “Sugar Blues” by Muddy Waters on the www.blueboxset.com website stops any attempt to limit him by classification. Blue Box Set is made up of Peisch on bass and vocals, Mike Kalenderian on electric guitar and vocals, and Tony D’Anna on drums. With music that is a unique combination of vintage and original rhythm and blues, Peisch said the group’s biggest goal is always to get people out on the dance floor. Last year, the trio performed at the Harvard Lions Club Fall Festival and at Grotonfest.

Peisch’s musical interest began early. From a young age, the influence of his grandfather, a flutist, and his father, who loved jazz, meant hearing a wide range of music as he was growing up. After playing the violin through his childhood, he discovered a true passion for music when he began playing guitar. Peisch earned both his undergraduate and graduate degrees at the New England Conservatory of Music, where he was influenced by Robert Cogan, a renowned avant-garde experimental theorist and composer. Peisch later taught at the conservatory for 20 years and directed the preparatory theory program, a time he describes with great pleasure. While at the conservatory he began teaching at Lawrence Academy, where he now teaches full-time.

As an educator, Peisch said he takes pride in teaching each student the skills to create their own music. The goal, he explained, is to help each student find his or her own voice, whether in music, film, or fiction writing. If a student can recount an emotional experience and express an authentic emotion, he said, “The music comes out. Music is a very immediate expression of emotion.”

Peisch also credits the beautiful natural surroundings in Still River and the strong Still River community with his attraction to the positive in music. When the Peisches first moved to the area years ago, the Watts Dairy was still in business and cows grazed in the fields behind the house. Though houses have replaced cows, Still River has managed to maintain a strong sense of community, he said. Peisch lives there with his wife, Kate, a registered nurse, and son Sam, a sophomore at Bromfield. Their older son, Ben, graduated from Bromfield in 2001.

Once drawn by atonal, “dark” compositions, Peisch reflected that he now thinks artists have a responsibility to offer hope, especially since 9/11. “There is so much bad stuff [in the world],” he said. “A musician can take an audience to emotionally dark and spooky places, but, ultimately, needs to end with hope.” He expressed a similar dissatisfaction with modern fiction, which often leaves the reader in an uncomfortable place. Peisch’s artistic sensibility seems impatient with irony and hopelessness in a world he believes has a need for people to pull together.

For Peisch, the immediate future holds work on a new Blue Box Set CD that will feature covers of ’60s rock. He will also run a summer program at Lawrence Academy, then relax with his family for a few weeks in Vermont. One imagines him spending many summer mornings “noodling” on the piano, with a sense of hope at the end of each exploration.