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1977 – 1981
studied composition privately with Víťazoslav Kubička
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1981 – 1986
studied with Ivan Hrušovský at the Academy of Performing Arts in Bratislava
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1987 – 1992
worked as music director at Slovak Radio
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1992
scholarship of the Electroacoustic Studio GRAME in Lyon
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1992 – 1994
lived 6 months in Chartres, France, taught music at the Municipal Music School
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1993
worked as programme annotator for the Slovak Philharmonic
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1994 – 1997
free-lancing as composer, translator, writer, member of VENI ensemble, Middle-Class Chamber Orchestra Požoň sentimentál, Ali Ibn Rachid and music producer
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1999 – 2000
ArtsLink fellowship, hosted by Temple University Public Radio, Philadelphia
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2000 – 2016
head of the publishing department of Music Centre Slovakia
"In Zagar’s musical language there is a characteristic attempt at a synthesis of traditional ideals of composition with modern testimonial values. He subjects his compositional premises, which are frequently derived from works of older style periods, to transformations; when this “double logic” is applied, the result is a work which may be understood as a modern commentary on a stabilised cultural value. The starting point for this may be a minimalist form (music for video), a Brahmsian concept of chamber music (Trio for Viola, Cello and Piano), or a traditional form of Christian musical culture (Stabat mater; Pater noster; Apocalypsis Iohannis). Zagar’s works do not bring polystylistic principles to the forefront; rather there is a synthetic purpose, bridging premises that were originally conflicting."
(GODÁR, Vladimír: Peter Zagar. In: A Hundred Slovak Composers. Eds. Marián Jurík, Peter Zagar. Bratislava : National Music Centre Slovakia, 1998, p. 287.)