Tributes
OSCAR PETERSON - SCULPTURE UNVEILING
June 30, 2010 Le Café Terrace Ottawa
Brief Remarks
Peter A. Herrndorf
President and CEO
National Arts Centre
Thank you very much, Rosemary…and good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen.
Bonjour, mesdames et messieurs. Je suis très, très fier de vous souhaiter la bienvenue au Centre national des Arts.
Before I say a few words about our friend Oscar Peterson… and about the magnificent Oscar Peterson Sculpture by Ruth Abernethy, I'd like to take a moment to acknowledge the wonderful Rosemary Thompson. Many of you know her from her days at CTV news, but since she joined the NAC last October, Rosemary`s done an extraordinary job for us. She's worked tirelessly on the Oscar Sculpture Project…and I`m told that she was very, very persuasive in getting her majesty to come here today for the unveiling. Please join me in an enthusiastic round of applause for Rosemary Thompson.
On December 24, 2007…the day after Oscar Peterson passed away, his wife Kelly asked Toronto producer Brian Robertson, former Ontario Premier Bob Rae and I to organize a memorial concert in his honour. We were honoured to be asked… and after two weeks of intense planning, hundreds of people from Canada and around the world joined together to create two hour concert that was broadcast live across Canada on CBC Radio.
Ce grand spectacle hommage à Oscar Peterson avait pour titre Simply the Best.
It was one of the most memorable, most emotionally stirring memorial services honouring a Canadian artist in Canadian history.
The concert took place at Roy Thomson Hall in Toronto on January 12, 2008. It drew an overflow crowd of 2,600 - many of whom had lined up at 5 a.m. in below zero weather to get free tickets - for an event that would take place 11 hours later. The outpouring of affection spoke volumes to us about the importance of doing something more...something permanent…that would forever pay tribute to the indelible mark Oscar Peterson left on the world of jazz ... and on the cultural fabric of this country.
In the months after, an Oscar Peterson National Committee was formed - to mount a national fundraising campaign to commission a life-sized bronze sculpture of the jazz legend. And we decided to give the Oscar Peterson sculpture a permanent home where so many Canadian artists and musicians have performed over the past 40 years - at the National Arts Centre…in the nation's capital. The National Committee was made up of Oscar's friends and admirers - many of whom are with us today …and each of them has played a critical role in making this project a reality. I'd like to take a moment to give them all special recognition. They are:
• The Honourable William Davis, the former Premier of Ontario;
• The Honourable Bob Rae, also a former Premier of Ontario and a member of Parliament;
• The Honourable Roy McMurtry, the former chief of Justice of the Ontario Court of Appeal;
• The Honourable Tommy Banks, a distinguished Senator…and an equally distinguished musician;
• Gail Asper, the driving force behind the Canadian museum of Human Rights in Winnipeg;
• Brian Robertson, the former President of the Canadian Recording Industry Association;
• Tim Armstrong, the former Ontario Agent General in Tokyo;
• Harvey Glatt, a pioneering figure in the Canadian music scene;
• Ross Porter, the President of Jazz FM 91 in Toronto;
• Denise Donlon, the managing Director of CBC Radio;
• Valerie Pringle, the former host of Canada AM - and;
• Kelly Peterson, Oscar Peterson`s widow…and a great champion of Canadian Jazz;
I'd also like to acknowledge leadership gifts from Allan Slaight…. from Fred & Anne Ketchen ... from the Hazel McCallion Foundation for Arts, Culture and Heritage…and from the TD Bank Financial Group. Their support put the fundraising campaign over the top, and the National Committee is tremendously grateful for their contribution. Thank you very, very much.
Finally, joining this impressive list of luminaries are literally hundreds of Canadian donors - from British Columbia to Newfoundland ... and international donors from the United States to Bermuda. They contributed donations ranging from ten dollars up to the thousands ... because they too believed that Oscar Peterson deserved this kind of honour. Please join me in an enthusiastic round of applause for all their support! [applause]
Mais par-dessus tout, c'est le talent d'une personne bien spéciale qui nous unit cette après-midi. Cette personne, c'est Ruth Abernethy, l'une des plus grandes artistes du Canada. Commissioning Ruth Abernethy to take on the project was a natural choice from the very beginning. Her best-known work (to date!) is the much-loved portrait Glenn (1999), a life-sized bronze statue of Canadian pianist Glenn Gould seated on a bench, and installed in front of the CBC's Glenn Gould Theatre on Front Street in Toronto.
For those of you who have had the great fortune to meet Ruth Abernethy personally, you'll agree with me when I say how wonderful it is to be in the company of someone so passionate ... and so full of joy. She's an artist of incomparable talent, of course… but she`s also a woman of enormous grace and eloquence. Someone who put great care and consideration in acknowledging Oscar's lasting legacy at every stage of her sculpture's creation. To tell you a little more about that journey, please join me in welcoming the remarkable Ruth Abernethy to the podium to say a few words.
June 30, 2010 Le Café Terrace Ottawa
Brief Remarks
Peter A. Herrndorf
President and CEO
National Arts Centre
Thank you very much, Rosemary…and good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen.
Bonjour, mesdames et messieurs. Je suis très, très fier de vous souhaiter la bienvenue au Centre national des Arts.
Before I say a few words about our friend Oscar Peterson… and about the magnificent Oscar Peterson Sculpture by Ruth Abernethy, I'd like to take a moment to acknowledge the wonderful Rosemary Thompson. Many of you know her from her days at CTV news, but since she joined the NAC last October, Rosemary`s done an extraordinary job for us. She's worked tirelessly on the Oscar Sculpture Project…and I`m told that she was very, very persuasive in getting her majesty to come here today for the unveiling. Please join me in an enthusiastic round of applause for Rosemary Thompson.
On December 24, 2007…the day after Oscar Peterson passed away, his wife Kelly asked Toronto producer Brian Robertson, former Ontario Premier Bob Rae and I to organize a memorial concert in his honour. We were honoured to be asked… and after two weeks of intense planning, hundreds of people from Canada and around the world joined together to create two hour concert that was broadcast live across Canada on CBC Radio.
Ce grand spectacle hommage à Oscar Peterson avait pour titre Simply the Best.
It was one of the most memorable, most emotionally stirring memorial services honouring a Canadian artist in Canadian history.
The concert took place at Roy Thomson Hall in Toronto on January 12, 2008. It drew an overflow crowd of 2,600 - many of whom had lined up at 5 a.m. in below zero weather to get free tickets - for an event that would take place 11 hours later. The outpouring of affection spoke volumes to us about the importance of doing something more...something permanent…that would forever pay tribute to the indelible mark Oscar Peterson left on the world of jazz ... and on the cultural fabric of this country.
In the months after, an Oscar Peterson National Committee was formed - to mount a national fundraising campaign to commission a life-sized bronze sculpture of the jazz legend. And we decided to give the Oscar Peterson sculpture a permanent home where so many Canadian artists and musicians have performed over the past 40 years - at the National Arts Centre…in the nation's capital. The National Committee was made up of Oscar's friends and admirers - many of whom are with us today …and each of them has played a critical role in making this project a reality. I'd like to take a moment to give them all special recognition. They are:
• The Honourable William Davis, the former Premier of Ontario;
• The Honourable Bob Rae, also a former Premier of Ontario and a member of Parliament;
• The Honourable Roy McMurtry, the former chief of Justice of the Ontario Court of Appeal;
• The Honourable Tommy Banks, a distinguished Senator…and an equally distinguished musician;
• Gail Asper, the driving force behind the Canadian museum of Human Rights in Winnipeg;
• Brian Robertson, the former President of the Canadian Recording Industry Association;
• Tim Armstrong, the former Ontario Agent General in Tokyo;
• Harvey Glatt, a pioneering figure in the Canadian music scene;
• Ross Porter, the President of Jazz FM 91 in Toronto;
• Denise Donlon, the managing Director of CBC Radio;
• Valerie Pringle, the former host of Canada AM - and;
• Kelly Peterson, Oscar Peterson`s widow…and a great champion of Canadian Jazz;
I'd also like to acknowledge leadership gifts from Allan Slaight…. from Fred & Anne Ketchen ... from the Hazel McCallion Foundation for Arts, Culture and Heritage…and from the TD Bank Financial Group. Their support put the fundraising campaign over the top, and the National Committee is tremendously grateful for their contribution. Thank you very, very much.
Finally, joining this impressive list of luminaries are literally hundreds of Canadian donors - from British Columbia to Newfoundland ... and international donors from the United States to Bermuda. They contributed donations ranging from ten dollars up to the thousands ... because they too believed that Oscar Peterson deserved this kind of honour. Please join me in an enthusiastic round of applause for all their support! [applause]
Mais par-dessus tout, c'est le talent d'une personne bien spéciale qui nous unit cette après-midi. Cette personne, c'est Ruth Abernethy, l'une des plus grandes artistes du Canada. Commissioning Ruth Abernethy to take on the project was a natural choice from the very beginning. Her best-known work (to date!) is the much-loved portrait Glenn (1999), a life-sized bronze statue of Canadian pianist Glenn Gould seated on a bench, and installed in front of the CBC's Glenn Gould Theatre on Front Street in Toronto.
For those of you who have had the great fortune to meet Ruth Abernethy personally, you'll agree with me when I say how wonderful it is to be in the company of someone so passionate ... and so full of joy. She's an artist of incomparable talent, of course… but she`s also a woman of enormous grace and eloquence. Someone who put great care and consideration in acknowledging Oscar's lasting legacy at every stage of her sculpture's creation. To tell you a little more about that journey, please join me in welcoming the remarkable Ruth Abernethy to the podium to say a few words.
