Born in Montreal, August 15th,1925. Studied piano and trumpet at age 5, and was forced because of a lung ailment to give up the trumpet and continue his piano studies. He later attended the Montreal Conservatory of Music for a short period, but it was found that he prospered more readily under private tuition. He became a student of classical pianist Paul deMarkey, under whose guidance he remained during most of his high school days. In his mid-teens he won First Prize on the Ken Soble Amateur Show. As a result of this, he was then given his own weekly radio show over the CBC network, and became a regular guest on various radio shows such as the Happy Gang and the Light Up and Listen Show. He then spent five years with the Johnny Holmes orchestra in Montreal, and it was during this time that he began doing concert appearances throughout the major cities of Canada. It was also during this period that RCA Victor signed him up to make his first recordings. During these years which happened to be war years, he gave freely of his services and performed on innumerable troupe shows and bond rallies.
After the war and during the year 1947, Peterson formed his first trio in Montreal and played numerous nightclubs and concerts throughout the land. He also continued his activities on the Canadian networks. In 1950 Norman Granz the American impresario, persuaded Peterson to appear at a trial concert in Carnegie Hall in New York City which featured well established stars, for example Ella Fitzgerald, etc. He received rave reviews, and was persuaded to come to the United States and make numerous concert appearances. In 1952 he won his first of twelve Down Beat Awards as the best jazz pianist of the year. He has won, since that time, awards from the Metronome Magazine, numerous Playboy Awards as the musicians' musician, several awards in England, Japan, Germany, France, Belgium, to mention a few places. His recordings have remained constant sellers throughout the world, and he has headed various award winning trios which is still his primary occupation. In the year 1966 he composed a lengthy pictorial suite which he dedicated to his country of birth by titling it the 'Canadiana Suite'. In it he has tried to depict musically, scenes of his homeland. This Suite was recorded and has remained a constant seller throughout the world. APart from his professional activities, Peterson and his associates formed a school of music in Toronto known as the Advanced School of Contemporary Music which he headed for five years. The school drew students from all parts of the world and received numerous write-ups in various journals along with the fact that it was constantly visited by important and interested stars of the music world.
They operated the school without the benefit of a grant or any outside help and had to relinquish it due to the fact that their concert itinerary in various parts of the world was suffering by their absence. Being unable to continue the school did not deter Peterson from continuing to teach. He managed this by holding seminars in the various cities that the trio performed in. He was forced to turn down an offer by the German Educational Authority to conduct a summer seminar for them due to the reasons stated above.
Peterson has appeared on many television shows throughout Canada and the United States. He has been honored by luminaries such as Danny Kaye, Johnny Carson, Frank Sinatra, etc. In 1967 the CBC paid tribute to him by devoting their Telescope television show to his life story.
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