Remembering Mississauga’s Oscar Peterson

August 15, 2025 marks the 100th anniversary of the birth of Oscar Peterson (1925-2007), and the City of Mississauga will be honouring his legacy in the Great Hall at the Civic Centre on his birthday.

Oscar Peterson was a world-renowned Canadian jazz pianist and composer whose remarkable talent made him one of the greatest musicians of the 20th Century. Born in Montreal, by the age of five he began honing his musical skills with the trumpet and piano. However, at the age of seven, a bout of tuberculosis hit him and prevented him from playing the trumpet, which allowed him to direct his attention to the piano. In 1940, at just the age of fourteen, Peterson won the national music competition organized by the CBC. He then joined a band with Maynard Ferguson and became a professional pianist, working on a weekly radio show and performing at hotels and music halls.

In 1949 jazz impresario Norman Granz discovered him during a live radio broadcast from Montreal and invited him to make a surprise debut at Carnegie Hall during the Jazz at the Philharmonic concert series, where his virtuosic playing astonished the audience and launched his international career. Over the following years, Peterson became one of the most celebrated jazz pianists in the world, performing with legends such as Ella Fitzgerald, Louis Armstrong, Count Basie, and Dizzy Gillespie. He blended classical precision with the soul of the blues, earning the nickname “the Maharaja of the Keyboard” from Duke Ellington.

From the late 1950s onward, with his place in jazz history secure, Peterson expanded his repertoire, performing in various formats, including solo, duo, trio, quartet, small group, and big band settings. His celebrated trios, featuring combinations of Ray Brown, Herb Ellis, Ed Thigpen, Joe Pass, and Niels-Henning Orsted Pedersen, produced landmark albums such as Night Train, The Trio, The Legendary Oscar Peterson Trio Live at the Blue Note, and much, much more. He also recorded with countless other jazz musicians, showcasing his versatility across different styles. He also composed notable works, such as the Canadiana Suite and Hymn to Freedom, the latter of which became an anthem for the civil rights movement. Over the decades, he toured extensively worldwide, earning a reputation as one of the most prolific and influential jazz pianists of all time.

Peterson shared his talents by teaching piano, primarily in Toronto. Along with his associates, he founded and led the Advanced School of Contemporary Music in Toronto for five years during the 1960s, attracting students from around the world. In the early 1990s, Peterson mentored the jazz program at York University and served as the university's Chancellor for several years.

Over his lifetime, Peterson received numerous significant recognitions, including 8 Grammy Awards, including a Lifetime Achievement Award in 1997, as well as inductions into the Canadian Music Hall of Fame, the Juno Awards Hall of Fame, and the Canadian Jazz and Blues Hall of Fame. He was appointed as an Officer of the Order of Canada in 1972, and promoted to Companion in 1984, as well as receiving the Order of Ontario, the National Order of Quebec, and France’s Ordre des Arts et des Lettres. Internationally, he was awarded the Praemium Imperiale World Art Award (1999), the UNESCO Music Prize (2000), and the Glenn Gould Prize (1993). His accolades also include the Governor General’s Performing Arts Award (1992), the BBC Radio Lifetime Achievement Award, the Roy Thomson Award, the Toronto Arts Award for Lifetime Achievement, and honorary doctorates from numerous universities in Canada and abroad. Concert halls, scholarships, and cultural tributes across the world continue to honour his legacy.

Oscar Peterson called Mississauga home since 1973, when he purchased a house on Hammond Road. In 2003, he received the City of Mississauga’s highest civic honour, the Civic Award of Merit, recognizing his contributions to music and the community. That same year, Oscar Peterson Boulevard was named in his honour.

In 2005, the Peel District School Board opened Oscar Peterson Public School just two miles from his home, where he visited regularly and donated electronic musical equipment. At the official opening of the school, Jim Grieve, then Director of Education for the Peel District School Board said: “We’re delighted to have a school named for jazz legend Oscar Peterson. It’s appropriate that the first school anywhere in the world to be named in his honour is located in his hometown of Mississauga.”

Oscar Peterson also served as the Honourary Patron of Heritage Mississauga from 1999 until his passing in 2007. In March 2008, the University of Toronto Mississauga opened Oscar Peterson Hall, a major student residence, in tribute to him. Peterson was also an inaugural inductee into Legends Row: Mississauga’s Walk of Fame and the Mississauga Arts Hall of Fame, cementing his lasting impact on the city. The Mississauga Arts Council unveiled a utility box wrap bearing his image along Erin Mills Parkway, near Lincoln Green Way, a short distance from Hammond Road.

Oscar Peterson passed away at his home on December 23, 2007, and was buried at St. Peter’s Anglican Cemetery in Erindale. He had been a devoted and beloved member of the St. Peter’s Congregation for many years.

For more information on the life, times, tributes and celebration of Oscar Peterson, click here and here.