Principal flutist emeritus of the Chicago Symphony, Donald Peck retired in 1999 after 42 years with the Orchestra where he played under four musical directors: Fritz Reiner, Jean Martinon, Georg Solti, and Daniel Barenboim.

Peck has appeared as soloist with the Chicago Symphony in 124 concerts directed by 25 conductors in Orchestra Hall, at Ravinia, and on tour. In 1985 he gave the world premiere of Morton Gould's Concerto under Sir Georg Solti. Gould's work was written especially for Peck, as was a flute sonata by Chicagoan William Ferris and Lee Hoiby's Pastorale Dances for flute and orchestra. Mr. Peck also performs as guest artist with other orchestras, including appearances at the Casals Festival with concerts in Puerto Rico, the Dominican Republic, and Carnegie Hall in New York; in Australia, where he recorded the Mozart flute concertos for the Australian Broadcasting Commission; at the Carmel Bach Festival in California, the Victoria International Festival in Canada, the Grand Teton Festival in Wyoming, the Tanglewood Festival in Massachusetts, and a host of smaller orchestras coast to coast. He has given master classes at the Juilliard School of Music and the Manhattan School of Music in New York, at the Rotterdam Conservatorium in Holland, for the Osaka Flute Club in Japan and the Sydney Flute Association in Australia, and at over thirty universities and music groups in the United States and Canada.

As principal flute of the Chicago Symphony, Peck has made over 300 recordings with 22 conductors for 12 labels. He has also recorded flute and piano works, including his own transcriptions, with pianist Melody Lord on the Boston label.

Donald Peck received his early musical training in Seattle, where he played in the Seattle Youth Symphony and the Seattle Philharmonic. His first teacher in Yakima, Washington, was Lois Schaefer, later a member of the Boston Symphony. As a teen he played with his teacher, Frank Horsfall, in the Seattle Symphony. He was a scholarship student at the Curtis Institute in Philadelphia, where he studied with William Kincaid. Peck has performed with the National Symphony Orchestra in Washington DC, and spent three years in the U.S. Marine Band. He was principal flute of the Kansas City Philharmonic Orchestra for two years before coming to the Chicago Symphony.

Donald Peck plays a flute handmade for him by Powell Flutes of Boston fashioned in Platinum-iridium.

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