Oscar Peterson....

Internationally renowned, Canadian jazz pianist Oscar Peterson has entertained the world with his mastery and prowess over the piano for over 40 years. Born in a limestone house on Montreal's Delisle Street on August 15, 1925, he was the fourth of five children to his parents, Daniel and Kathleen. All of the Peterson children (Fred, Daisy, Charles, Oscar and May) were introduced to music in a good way before any of them can remember. Their father, a porter with Canadian Pacific Railways who learned to play piano on his own while in the merchant marine, taught his children all he could until they achieved a certain proficiency. It was at this point, during his high school years, that Oscar came to study with an accomplished classical pianist, Hungarian Paul de Marky, who taught Oscar "technique and speedy fingers". He also helped Oscar come to believe that he had something special to give to the music world.

Some of the artists who influenced Oscar during the early years were Teddy Williams, Nat (King) Cole, James P. Johnson and the legendary Art Tatum, who many have tried to compare Oscar to in later years. In fact, one of Oscar's first exposures to the musical talents of Art Tatum came early in his teen years when his father played an Art Tatum record to him and Oscar was so intimidated by what he heard that he didn't touch the piano for over a month.

In his last years of high school, Oscar played in a band called the Montreal High School Victory Serenaders with trumpeter Maynard Ferguson. He got permission to play the baby grand piano during the lunch hours and in his words this was "the best way to have a bunch of girls come down. I became the guy."

At 14 years of age, Oscar's older sister Daisy got him to audition for a CBC (Canadian Broadcasting Corporation) national amateur contest which he went on to win. This opened the doors to performances on a weekly broadcast show, on a Montreal radio station, called Fifteen Minutes' Piano Rambling and later performances on a national CBC broadcast called The Happy Gang. Finally, when algebra couldn't banish musical arrangements, Oscar asked to drop out of high school. His father told him that he couldn't "let him leave high school to be a jazz piano player. You have to be the best, there is no second best." And so his music career began...

AWARDS
1962 Received the Edison Award, Grand Gala du Disque for "The Trio Live from Chicago"
1972 Appointed Officer in the Order of Canada
1973 Given the Award of Merit by the City of Toronto
1975 Honours from the Alpha Omega Chapter of the Omega Psi Phi Fraternity
1975 Received the Diplome d'Honneur from the Canadian Conference of the Arts
1976 Given The Olympic Key to Montreal
1977 Received the Queen's Medal
1978 Received the Genie Award for the Best Film Score - "The Silent Partner"
1979 May 26, 1979 declared "Oscar Peterson Day" in Dade County, Florida

1981 Awarded the Grand Prix du Disque for the 'Night Child" album
1982 Given Honourary Lifetime Membership in the Montreal Musicians Association
1982 Oscar Peterson Scholarship founded by Berklee College of Music, Boston, Mass.
1983 Given the Award of Merit by the City of Toronto
1983 August 31, 1983 declared "Oscar Peterson Day" in Baltimore, Maryland
1984 Elected to Board of Directors at the Credit Valley Hospital, Mississauga, Ontario
1984 Given the Award of Merit by the Harry Jerome Awards
1984 Promoted to Companion in the Order of Canada
1985 Received the Blue Note Award for Outstanding Excellence in the Jazz Idiom
1987 Given a Lifetime Achievement Award by the Black Theatre Workshop, Montreal
1987 Awarded the George Peabody Medal by The Peabody Conservatory of Music, Baltimore, Maryland.
1987 Given the Arts and Letters Award by the Canadian Club of New York
1987 Given the Roy Thompson Hall Award for Volunteerism, Toronto
1988 Awarded the Certificate of Merit and Appreciation from the Los Angeles Cultural Affairs Commission
1989 Appointed Officer in the Order of Arts and Letters, France

1990 July 18, 1990 declared "Ray Brown and Oscar Peterson Day" in Los Angeles
1991 Appointed Chevalier de l'Ordre du Quebec
1991 Given the Toronto Arts Award for Lifetime Achievement
1992 Received the Great Canadian Medal from the MacLachlan College & Preparatory School
1992 Appointed to Membership in the Order of Ontario
1992 Awarded the Governor General's Performing Arts Award for Lifetime Achievement
1993 Awarded the Glenn Gould Prize
1993 Received the Gemini Award for Best Original Music Score in a Program or Mini-series "In The Key of Oscar"
1995 Received the "Three Key Award" from the Bern International Jazz Festival
1995 Received the ISPA International Award for Outstanding Contribution of Creative Talent and Inspiration to the World of Jazz
1997 Awarded the Loyola Medal by Concordia University
1997 Received the Jazz at Lincoln Center Award for Artistic Excellence
1999 Concordia University Concert Hall renamed Oscar Peterson Concert Hall.
1999 Received the Praemium Imperiale Award, Nobel equivalent for the Arts
2000 Album "The Trio" designated as Masterwork by the Audio/Visual Preservation Trust, Government of Canada.
2000 Received a citation from President Clinton in acknowledgement of achievements in the field of Music
2000 Received the Society for American Music Award for contributions to the study and performance of American Music.
2000 Awarded the UNESCO International Music Prize.
2001 Awarded the Skynet Internet Person of the Year Award.
2001 Given a Lifetime Achievement Award by the Atlanta International Jazz Society.
2001 Received a Commendation from the U.S. House of Representatives in recognition of contributions to society.
2001 Week of Aug. 28 - Sept. 2, 2001 declared "Oscar Peterson Week" in San Francisco, San Jose and Oakland, California.
2002 Awarded the first Lifetime Achievement Award by the Boesendorfer Piano Company of Austria.
2002 Awarded the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Urban Music Association of Canada.
2003 Awarded the President's Award from the International Association for Jazz Education.
2003 Inducted into the Order of the Musketeers of Armagnac.
2003 Received the Civic Award of Merit from the City of Mississauga (Sept.10)
2003 Announcement of street named Oscar Peterson Boulevard in Mississauga (Sept.10)
2003 First Inductee into the Mississauga Arts Hall of Fame (Sept.10)
2003 Received the Austrian Cross of Honour for Artistic & Cultural Achievement (Nov.20)
2003 Oscar Peterson stamp issued by the Austrian Government (Nov.19)
2004 Distinguished Canadian Leadership Award, presented by the University of Ottawa in October
2004 Canadian Association of Broadcasters Hall of Fame Award, presented in November
2005 July 2, 2005: BBC-Radio Lifetime Achievement Award, London, England
2005 August 15, 2005: Commemorative stamp issued by Canada Post; the first time someone still living has been honored with a stamp (other than the reigning monarch!)
2005 September 6, 2005: Official opening day of the Oscar Peterson Public School, Mississauga, Ontario, Canada

HONOURARY DEGREES CONFERRED
1973 Carleton University - Doctor of Laws
1976 Queen's University - Doctor of Laws
1979 Concordian University - Doctor of Laws
1980 Mount Alison, Sackville N.B. - Doctor of Music
1981 McMaster University - Doctor of Laws
1981 University of Victoria, B.C. - Doctor of Laws
1982 York University - Doctor of Letters
1983 Northwestern University, Illinois - Doctor of Fine Arts
1985 University of Toronto - Doctor of Laws
1985 University of Laval - Doctor of Music
1991 York University: Installed as Chancellor by the Board of Governors
1994 York University: Chancellor Emeritus
1994 Western Ontario Conservatory of Music - Licentiate in Music Diploma
1994 University of British Columbia - Doctor of Laws
1996 Niagara University, New York - Doctor of Fine Arts
1999 University of Western Ontario - Doctor of Laws
http://www.oscarpeterson.com/bio/