Oscar Peterson was a Canadian jazz pianist and composer who lived from 1925 to 2007. He grew up in Montreal and became one of the most admired pianists in the world. He played with great speed and a huge, joyful sound. He also wrote music, and two of his pieces are in the Royal Conservatory piano books. The best first piece for a child is “Hymn to Freedom.”
Quick facts
- Born: 1925, in Montreal, Quebec
- Died: 2007, in Mississauga, Ontario
- Style: jazz
- Played: piano
- Known for: “Hymn to Freedom,” the Canadiana Suite, and more than 50 years of concerts and recordings
The life in short
Peterson was the fourth of five children. His parents had come to Canada from the Caribbean. The family lived in St. Henri, a working neighborhood of Montreal.
His father worked as a porter on the railway. He loved music and had taught himself to play the organ. He made a rule: every child in the family learned the piano and a brass instrument. Oscar started on the trumpet and the piano at five.
At about eight, he fell ill with tuberculosis, a disease of the lungs. He spent a year getting well. After that he gave up the trumpet and put all his time into the piano.
His older sister Daisy was his first teacher. At 14, he began lessons with a Hungarian concert pianist, Paul de Marky. De Marky gave him a classical training in the tradition of Franz Liszt. That same year, Oscar won first prize in a radio contest for amateurs.
In 1949, a jazz producer named Norman Granz brought him to Carnegie Hall in New York as a surprise guest. Peterson was 24. He walked on stage unannounced and played with a bass player, and the reviews were full of praise.
For the next 50 years, he toured the world. He is best known for his trios: piano, bass, and either guitar or drums.
In 1993, he had a stroke that weakened his left hand. He worked for two years to recover, and he returned to the stage.
Peterson won eight Grammy Awards. He was made a Companion of the Order of Canada, the highest level of that honor.
What the music sounds like
Jazz players make up much of the music as they play. This is called improvising. Peterson would state a tune and then spin new music from it, faster and fuller with each round.
His playing swings. The beat is steady, and the notes dance around it. His hands were quick and strong, and he could fill the whole keyboard with sound. The trumpeter Louis Armstrong called him “the man with four hands.”
His own pieces have clear, singing tunes. Some sound close to hymns and folk songs.
Pieces to play first
“Hymn to Freedom.” Peterson wrote it in 1962. It begins as a slow, plain hymn and grows. People in the American civil rights movement took it up as an anthem.
“Place St. Henri,” from the Canadiana Suite. A quick, bright piece named for the Montreal neighborhood where he grew up.
“Wheatland,” from the Canadiana Suite. An easy, rolling piece about the Prairies.
“Land of the Misty Giants,” from the Canadiana Suite. A slow piece about the Rocky Mountains.
About the Canadiana Suite
Peterson wrote the Canadiana Suite in 1964. It has eight pieces, and each one is about a part of Canada. Together they make a trip from east to west. His father’s work on the railway took him across the same country.
Things to do together
Follow the map. Play the Canadiana Suite and trace the trip across Canada, from the East Coast to the mountains of the West.
Find the tune. Play the first minute of “Hymn to Freedom” and hum the tune. Keep humming as Peterson starts to add notes around it. Can your child still hear it?
Count the players. In a trio, three people play. Listen for the piano, the bass, and the drums. Point when each one takes the lead.
Make it up. At a piano, play three notes of your choice. Then play them again in a new order, faster, slower, higher, and lower. That is the start of improvising.
For piano students
“Laurentide Waltz” and “Land of the Misty Giants,” both from the Canadiana Suite, are on the Royal Conservatory piano lists. Peterson also wrote books of jazz exercises and pieces for young pianists.
His own first training was classical, with a teacher in the tradition of Liszt.
Print and play
For the kind of group he played in, read the jazz band for kids. Fill in a composer study notebook page for Oscar Peterson. Read about more composers in Canadian composers for kids and Black composers for kids. For another composer who mixed jazz and concert music, read Gershwin for kids.
For more composers by era, see classical composers for kids.
Sources
Checked in November 2026.
- The Canadian Encyclopedia. Oscar Peterson.
More from this guide
This article is part of Classical composers for kids: a guide by era, from Vivaldi to Britten.
Alexina Louie for kids: her life, her music, and what to play first
Alexina Louie explained for parents and kids: the Canadian composer from Vancouver, her music of East and West, her piano pieces about the stars, and things to do.
American composers for kids: ten to know and a piece by each
Ten American composers for kids to know, from Sousa and Joplin to Copland and John Williams, with a short story and one piece to hear for each.
Amy Beach for kids: her life, her music, and what to play first
Amy Beach explained for parents and kids: the American pianist who taught herself to compose, the Gaelic Symphony, four pieces to play first, and things to do.
André Mathieu for kids: his life, his music, and what to play first
André Mathieu explained for parents and kids: the Montreal child prodigy who composed at four, his piano concertos, what to hear first, and things to do.
Arvo Pärt for kids: his life, his music, and what to play first
Arvo Pärt explained for parents and kids: the living Estonian composer of slow, bell-like music, Spiegel im Spiegel, and things to do together.
Asian composers for kids: ten to know
Ten Asian composers for kids, from Japan, China, Korea, and India, with one piece to play first for each, what to listen for, and things to do.
Use it with your kids
Print a listening page, a practice chart, or a composer fact sheet. Or try a tool, such as the composer timeline or the piece picker.