A statue of the Canadian jazz pianist

Oscar Peterson Oscar Emmanuel Peterson (August 15, 1925 – December 23, 2007) was a Canadian virtuoso jazz pianist and composer. Considered one of the greatest jazz pianists of all time, Peterson released more than 200 recordings, won seven Grammy Awards, ...

is located at the corner of Elgin and

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streets in

Ottawa Ottawa (, ; Canadian French: ) is the capital city of Canada. It is located at the confluence of the Ottawa River and the Rideau River in the southern portion of the province of Ontario. Ottawa borders Gatineau, Quebec, and forms the core ...

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, Canada, outside Canada's

National Arts Centre The National Arts Centre (NAC) (french: Centre national des Arts) is a Arts centre, performing arts organisation in Ottawa, Ontario, along the Rideau Canal. It is based in the eponymous National Arts Centre (building), National Arts Centre build ...

Description

The life size statue depicts Peterson sitting on a bench at a piano, smiling, and includes a space for visitors to sit next to him. The statue was intended to depict Peterson as if he had just finished playing and had turned toward his audience. The statue is made from bronze, and was created by the Canadian sculptor Ruth Abernethy. Abernathy said the statue was designed so that Peterson was "...very accessible to people who love him and that is an unabashed set-up to just have a moment with Oscar". The piano has 97 keys as opposed to the 88 keys on a standard piano, and is based on an Austrian piano that Peterson favoured. Abernethy intended the extra keys to represent a "metaphor for his musical inventiveness" as Peterson was a "...man who asked to reimagine the piano". Abernathy had previously created a sculpture the Canadian classical pianist,

Glenn Gould Glenn Herbert Gould (; né Gold; September 25, 1932October 4, 1982) was a Canadian classical pianist. He was one of the most famous and celebrated pianists of the 20th century, and was renowned as an interpreter of the keyboard works of Johann ...

, situated outside the

Canadian Broadcasting Centre The Canadian Broadcasting Centre, also known as the CBC Toronto Broadcast Centre, is an office and studio complex located in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It serves as the main broadcast and master control point for the Canadian Broadcasting Corpora ...

in Toronto. The statue cost $300,000 and was funded by private donations. Major donors included

Allan Slaight John Allan Slaight (July 19, 1931 – September 19, 2021) was a Canadian rock and roll radio pioneer, media mogul, and philanthropist. His career began as an amateur magician before moving to radio. He was the founder of Slaight Communications, ...

's charitable foundation, Fred and Anne Ketchen of Mississauga, the

Toronto-Dominion Bank Toronto-Dominion Bank (french: links=no, Banque Toronto-Dominion), doing business as TD Bank Group (french: links=no, Groupe Banque TD), is a Canadian Multinational corporation, multinational banking and financial services corporation headquarte ...

and the Mayor of Mississauga's Foundation for Arts, Culture and Heritage.

Unveiling

It was unveiled on 30 June 2010 by

Elizabeth II Elizabeth II (Elizabeth Alexandra Mary; 21 April 1926 – 8 September 2022) was Queen of the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth realms from 6 February 1952 until her death in 2022. She was queen regnant of 32 sovereign states during ...

Queen of Canada The monarchy of Canada is Canada's form of government embodied by the Canadian sovereign and head of state. It is at the core of Canada's constitutional federal structure and Westminster-style parliamentary democracy. The monarchy is the foundat ...

. Peterson had performed for Elizabeth in

Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the ancho ...

, during celebrations of her

Golden Jubilee A golden jubilee marks a 50th anniversary. It variously is applied to people, events, and nations. Bangladesh In Bangladesh, golden jubilee refers the 50th anniversary year of the separation from Pakistan and is called in Bengali ''"সু ...

in 2002. The Queen met Peterson's wife, Kelly Peterson, and his daughter, Celine, at the unveiling ceremony and the Montreal Jubilation Choir performed his composition "Hymn to Freedom". Kelly Peterson said that her reaction to the statue was, "like walking in and seeing him. It's amazing how it works like that", and that it was, "an overwhelming honour for Oscar. I'm so proud and pleased about that".

Recent history

The statue was vandalized in August 2014 by two people who painted tears with gold paint onto Peterson's eyes. An outdoor concert was held by the statue in August 2015 to celebrate Peterson's 90th birthday.

References

{{Reflist 2010 in Canada 2010 sculptures 21st century in Ottawa Peterson, Oscar Bronze sculptures in Canada Peterson, Oscar Peterson, Oscar Peterson, Oscar Sculptures of musical instruments Peterson, Oscar Peterson, Oscar Vandalized works of art in Canada Sculptures of men in Canada