Peter Pringle (born September 7, 1945) is a Canadian musician and television personality,"Peter Pringle"

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. most prominent in the 1970s and 1980s.

Early career

Pringle began performing at age six in the children's choir of the

Canadian Opera Company The Canadian Opera Company (COC) is an opera company in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is the largest opera company in Canada and one of the largest producers of opera in North America. The COC performs in its own opera house, the Four Seasons Cent ...

. He later studied a variety of classical instruments, including lute,

sitar The sitar ( or ; ) is a plucked stringed instrument, originating from the Indian subcontinent, used in Hindustani classical music. The instrument was invented in medieval India, flourished in the 18th century, and arrived at its present form ...

and

surbahar ''Surbahar'' (; ) sometimes known as bass sitar, is a plucked string instrument used in the Hindustani classical music of the Indian subcontinent. It is closely related to the sitar, but has a lower pitch. Depending on the instrument's size, it ...

,Peter Pringle

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Pop Music Encyclopedia. financing his studies by writing pop songs. Several of his songs were recorded by

Anne Murray Morna Anne Murray (born June 20, 1945) is a retired Canadian singer. Her albums, consisting primarily of pop, country, and adult contemporary music, have sold over 55 million copies worldwide during her over 40-year career. Murray was the fir ...

, for whom he also performed as a backing vocalist. There have been occasional erroneous claims made in internet forums that Pringle's real name is David Murray, and that he is Anne Murray's brother. While Anne Murray did have a brother named David, he was a surgeon rather than a musician, and he died in 2021.

Recording

Pringle moved to

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in 1975, and released his self-titled debut album the following year. He then moved to

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in 1980, and continued to record pop songs in both English and French. He is a two-time Juno Award nominee for Most Promising Male Vocalist, at the

Juno Awards of 1978 The Juno Awards of 1978, representing Canadian music industry achievements of the previous year, were awarded on 29 March 1978 in Toronto at a ceremony hosted for a second consecutive year by David Steinberg at the Harbour Castle Hilton Conventio ...

and the Juno Awards of 1982. In 1985, he participated in the recording of "

Les Yeux de la faim "Les Yeux de la faim" (meaning "The Eyes of Hunger") is a French-language song written by Canadian journalist Gil Courtemanche and Canadian composer Jean Robitaille. It was recorded by a one-off supergroup of many musicians to raise funds for th ...

", a French-language

charity single A charity record or charity single is a song released by musicians with most or all proceeds raised going to a dedicated foundation or charity. George Harrison's "Bangla Desh" single in 1971 is commonly acknowledged as the first ever purpose-made ...

for the 1983–85 famine in Ethiopia, alongside musicians such as

René Simard René Claude Simard, , (born February 28, 1961) is a pop singer from Quebec. He is the older brother of Nathalie Simard. Early life Simard was born in Chicoutimi, Quebec. Career In 1974, René Simard was awarded the Grand Prix by Frank Sinatra a ...

Nathalie Simard Nathalie Simard (born 7 July 1969) is a pop singer from Quebec, Canada, and the younger sister of performer René Simard. Simard was born in Île d'Orléans, near Quebec City, and was discovered by producer Guy Cloutier. Her first role was in a ...

André Gagnon André Gagnon (2 August 1936 – 3 December 2020) was a Canadian pianist, composer, conductor, arranger, and actor, known for his fusion of classical and pop styles,Jean-Pierre Thiollet, ''88 notes pour piano solo'', Neva Editions, 2015, p.16 ...

Yvon Deschamps Yvon Deschamps (born July 31, 1935, in Montreal, Quebec) is a Quebec author, actor, comedian and producer best known for his monologues. His social-commentary-tinged humour propelled him to prominence in Quebec popular culture in the 1970s and 1 ...

Gilles Vigneault Gilles Vigneault (; born 27 October 1928) is a Canadian poet, publisher, singer-songwriter, and Quebec nationalist and sovereigntist. Two of his songs are considered by many to be Quebec's unofficial anthems: " Mon pays" and " Gens du pays", ...

Nanette Workman Nanette Joan Workman (born 20 November 1945, Brooklyn, New York, United States) is a singer-songwriter, actress and author, who has been based in Quebec, Canada, during much of her career. She holds dual citizenship of both the United States and ...

and Patsy Gallant, and in 1986 he was one of the performers at Canada's first major benefit concert for

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, alongside Michel Louvain, Joe Bocan, Denny Christianson and

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. In 1986, he garnered a Genie Award nomination for

Best Original Song This is a list of categories of awards commonly awarded through organizations that bestow film awards, including those presented by various film, festivals, and people's awards. Best Actor/Best Actress *See Best Actor#Film awards, Best Actress#F ...

for "Cold As Ice", a song he co wrote with Kevin Hunter, for the soundtrack to the film '' Toby McTeague'';"New Genie ballots sent out after 'Cold as Ice' mix-up". ''

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'', February 17, 1987. a minor controversy resulted when the song was mistakenly omitted from the first round of ballots sent out to

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voters, forcing the Academy to send out replacement ballots. In this era, he was also a regular host of the

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pageant, and hosted television

variety Variety may refer to: Arts and entertainment Entertainment formats * Variety (radio) * Variety show, in theater and television Films * ''Variety'' (1925 film), a German silent film directed by Ewald Andre Dupont * ''Variety'' (1935 film), ...

specials for

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. Since 2007 he has gained recognition online for performing ancient epics and poems on his Youtube channel. He uses a wide variety of instruments from the lyre to the hurdy-gurdy and performs many of these poems in their original ancient languages.

Acting

In 1987, Pringle premiered a one-man theatrical show in which he portrayed Noël Coward, mixing a dramatic monologue with performances of Coward's songs. He toured the show across Canada several times over the next number of years, as well as creating and performing several other

musical revue A revue is a type of multi-act popular theatrical entertainment that combines music, dance, and sketches. The revue has its roots in 19th century popular entertainment and melodrama but grew into a substantial cultural presence of its own duri ...

shows, including ''From Irving Berlin to Gilles Vigneault'', a show based on the biblical '' Song of Songs'' and ''New York-Paris, a Musical Voyage''. In 1994, he also appeared as Duncan in a production of

Wendy Wasserstein Wendy Wasserstein (October 18, 1950 – January 30, 2006) was an American playwright. She was an Andrew Dickson White Professor-at-Large at Cornell University. She received the Tony Award for Best Play and the Pulitzer Prize for Drama in 1989 ...

's play ''

The Sisters Rosensweig ''The Sisters Rosensweig'' is a play by Wendy Wasserstein. The play focuses on three Jewish-American sisters and their lives. It "broke theatrical ground by concentrating on a non-traditional cast of three middle-aged women." Wasserstein receive ...

''.

Theremin

Pringle released a compilation album, ''Comme j'étais - comme je suis!'', in 1996, and then retired from recording or performing pop music. By 1998, Pringle began to reemerge as a

theremin The theremin (; originally known as the ætherphone/etherphone, thereminophone or termenvox/thereminvox) is an electronic musical instrument controlled without physical contact by the performer (who is known as a thereminist). It is named afte ...

player. He has released two independent albums of theremin music, has performed on the instrument both in solo shows and with the Montreal Chamber Orchestra, and has released a number of

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videos of his performances of both classical and modern pieces on the instrument."Theremin's ethereal instrument; Us Conductors imagines the strange world of the Soviet scientist and spy who invented his eponymous device". ''

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'', April 12, 2014.

Discography

*''Peter Pringle'' (1976) *''Rain Upon The Sea'' (1981) *''Magicien'' (1981) *''Fifth Avenue Blue'' (1982) *''Pour Une Femme'' (1982) *''Souris-Moi'' (1984) *''Fantasies'' (1984) *''Chansons d'amour (1984) *''Pauvre Casanova'' (1985) *''Noel Coward: A Portrait'' (1987) *''Le Jeu d'amour'' (1991) *''Le Secret du Cantique des Cantiques'' (1992) *''Comme j'étais - comme je suis!'' (1996) *''Many Voices'' (2003) *''A Theremin Jewel Box'' *''Dancing Alone'' (2021)

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Pringle, Peter 1945 births Living people Canadian male singers Canadian pop singers Canadian pop pianists Canadian jazz singers Canadian jazz pianists Canadian male songwriters 20th-century Canadian dramatists and playwrights Canadian male stage actors Canadian male musical theatre actors French-language singers of Canada Musicians from Halifax, Nova Scotia Musicians from Montreal Canadian television variety show hosts Theremin players Canadian male dramatists and playwrights Beauty pageant hosts Canadian YouTubers Writers from Halifax, Nova Scotia Writers from Montreal 20th-century Canadian male writers Canadian male pianists 21st-century Canadian pianists 21st-century Canadian male musicians Canadian male jazz musicians