Life and career

Duchin was born in New York City

New York City

New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...

, the son of pianist and band leader Eddy Duchin

Eddy Duchin

Eddy Duchin was an American popular pianist and bandleader of the 1930s and 1940s, famous for his engaging onstage personality, his elegant piano style, and his fight against leukemia.-Early career:...

. His mother was Marjorie Oelrichs

Marjorie Oelrichs

Marjorie Oelrichs Duchin , nicknamed "Bubbles", was an American socialite. The daughter of Charles and Marjorie Oelrichs, she became the wife of dance bandleader Eddy Duchin after the two met at the Waldorf, and wed on June 5, 1935...

, a Newport, Rhode Island

Newport, Rhode Island

Newport is a city on Aquidneck Island in Newport County, Rhode Island, United States, about south of Providence. Known as a New England summer resort and for the famous Newport Mansions, it is the home of Salve Regina University and Naval Station Newport which houses the United States Naval War...

 and New York City

New York City

New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...

 socialite

Socialite

A socialite is a person who participates in social activities and spends a significant amount of time entertaining and being entertained at fashionable upper-class events....

 who died unexpectedly when he was just five days old. He was raised by close family friends, statesman W. Averell Harriman

W. Averell Harriman

William Averell Harriman was an American Democratic Party politician, businessman, and diplomat. He was the son of railroad baron E. H. Harriman. He served as Secretary of Commerce under President Harry S. Truman and later as the 48th Governor of New York...

 and his wife, Marie Norton

Marie Norton

-Biography:She was born in 1903, her grandfather was Benjamin F. Einstein who was the attorney to the New York Times and a shareholder in several advertising companies whose main client was the Times. She was the first wife of Cornelius Vanderbilt Whitney from 1923 to 1929, with whom she had two...

 Whitney Harriman.

Duchin was educated at Eaglebrook

Eaglebrook School

Eaglebrook School is an independent junior boarding school for boys in Deerfield, Massachusetts. It is located on the Pocumtuck Range near Deerfield Academy and sited on a campus which is also preserved by the Deerfield Wildlife Trust....

 and Hotchkiss prep schools

University-preparatory school

A university-preparatory school or college-preparatory school is a secondary school, usually private, designed to prepare students for a college or university education...

 in New England

New England

New England is a region in the northeastern corner of the United States consisting of the six states of Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and Connecticut...

. He spent time in Paris

Paris

Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...

, France

France

The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...

 and studied at the Sorbonne

Sorbonne

The Sorbonne is an edifice of the Latin Quarter, in Paris, France, which has been the historical house of the former University of Paris...

 before returning home and graduating from Yale University

Yale University

Yale University is a private, Ivy League university located in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701 in the Colony of Connecticut, the university is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States...

.

In 1964, he married Cheray Zauderer, a divorced Manhattan socialite with whom he eventually had three children. As a wedding gift, her father gave them a Thoroughbred

Thoroughbred

The Thoroughbred is a horse breed best known for its use in horse racing. Although the word thoroughbred is sometimes used to refer to any breed of purebred horse, it technically refers only to the Thoroughbred breed...

 yearling named Mr. Right. The colt became one of four racehorses

Horse racing

Horse racing is an equestrian sport that has a long history. Archaeological records indicate that horse racing occurred in ancient Babylon, Syria, and Egypt. Both chariot and mounted horse racing were events in the ancient Greek Olympics by 648 BC...

 to ever win both the U.S. West Coast's

West Coast of the United States

West Coast or Pacific Coast are terms for the westernmost coastal states of the United States. The term most often refers to the states of California, Oregon, and Washington. Although not part of the contiguous United States, Alaska and Hawaii do border the Pacific Ocean but can't be included in...

 Santa Anita Handicap

Santa Anita Handicap

The Santa Anita Handicap is an American Thoroughbred horse race held annually in early March at Santa Anita Park in Arcadia, California. It is a Grade I race for horses four years old and up , and is considered the most important race for older horses in North America during the winter racing season...

 and the East Coast's

East Coast of the United States

The East Coast of the United States, also known as the Eastern Seaboard, refers to the easternmost coastal states in the United States, which touch the Atlantic Ocean and stretch up to Canada. The term includes the U.S...

 Woodward Stakes

Woodward Stakes

The Woodward Stakes is an American Grade I stakes race and is one of the premier races for older thoroughbred horses in the United States. Named for prominent racehorse owner, George Nicholas Woodward, it is run at 1⅛ miles on the dirt for a purse of $750,000.The Woodward was run as a handicap in...

.

Duchin's music was much-heard on MOR radio in the late 1960s and early 70s from albums and singles released on the Decca, Bell and Capitol labels.

From 1985 to 1989, Duchin had a professional partnership with Jimmy Maxwell, leader of the traditional society jazz band in New Orleans.

Duchin is an honorary member and former Vice-Chairman of the New York State Council on the Arts. He has served on the boards of American Ballet Theatre

American Ballet Theatre

American Ballet Theatre , based in New York City, was one of the foremost ballet companies of the 20th century. It continues as a leading dance company in the world today...

, Carnegie Hall

Carnegie Hall

Carnegie Hall is a concert venue in Midtown Manhattan in New York City, United States, located at 881 Seventh Avenue, occupying the east stretch of Seventh Avenue between West 56th Street and West 57th Street, two blocks south of Central Park....

, Spoleto Festival USA

Spoleto Festival USA

Spoleto Festival USA in Charleston, South Carolina, is one of the world's major performing arts festivals. It was founded in 1977 by Pulitzer Prize-winning composer Gian Carlo Menotti, who sought to establish a counterpart to the Festival dei Due Mondi in Spoleto, Italy...

, The Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center

The Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center

The Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center is an American organization dedicated to the performance and promotion of chamber music. Its website states that it is "the nation’s premier repertory company for chamber music."...

, the board of Trustees for the Glimmerglass Opera

Glimmerglass Opera

Glimmerglass Festival is an opera company which was founded in 1975 by Peter Macris and presents an annual season of operas at the Alice Busch Opera Theater on Otsego Lake eight miles north of Cooperstown, New York, United States.The summer-only season usually consists of four operas performed in...

 of Cooperstown, New York

Cooperstown, New York

Cooperstown is a village in Otsego County, New York, USA. It is located in the Town of Otsego. The population was estimated to be 1,852 at the 2010 census.The Village of Cooperstown is the county seat of Otsego County, New York...

, the Advisory Council for the American Russian Youth Orchestra, the National Jazz Service Organization, the World Policy Institute

World Policy Institute

The World Policy Institute, a non-partisan policy institute which claims to develop policies that require a progressive ideology. WPI focuses on cooperative policies in order to achieve : an inclusive and sustainable global market economy, engaged global civic participation and effective...

, and the Citizens Committee For New York City.

Having divorced, in 1985 Peter Duchin married Brooke Hayward

Brooke Hayward

Brooke Hayward is an American actress and writer.-Early life and career:Born in Los Angeles, Hayward is the eldest, and only surviving, child from the marriage of former agent turned film-, television-, and stage producer Leland Hayward and actress Margaret Sullavan...

 with whom he'd been cohabiting since 1981. The couple maintain a loft in New York City and a house in Washington

Washington, Connecticut

Washington is a rural town in Litchfield County, Connecticut, in the New England region of the United States. The population was 3,596 at the 2000 census. Washington is known for its picturesque countryside, historic architecture, and active civic and cultural life...

 in Litchfield County, Connecticut

Connecticut

Connecticut is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States. It is bordered by Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, and the state of New York to the west and the south .Connecticut is named for the Connecticut River, the major U.S. river that approximately...

. In 1996 he published his memoir, Ghost of a Chance. In 2008, Brooke Hayward and Peter Duchin announced their separation.

He is also a board member for The Center for Arts Education

The center for arts education

The Center for Arts Education is a nonprofit organization that is committed to stimulating and sustaining quality arts education as an essential part of every child’s education in the New York City public schools. Since 1996, CAE has invested nearly $40 million to support schools and cultural...

.