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News Release2000-09 National Library's Oscar Peterson Exhibition to Open July 1, 2000Ottawa, June 29, 2000 - The National Library of Canada is proud to honour internationally acclaimed Canadian jazz pianist and composer Oscar Peterson with a new exhibition opening July 1, 2000. Called Oscar Peterson: A Jazz Sensation, the exhibition is drawn from the Oscar Peterson archive, which the artist has been depositing at the National Library since 1991. Correspondence, photographs, press clippings, programmes, audio and visual materials and posters will provide visitors with a glimpse of the artist's rise from Montreal clubs to the stages of New York, Las Vegas, London, Paris and Tokyo. "I feel very proud to have an exhibit of this magnitude set up in my honour," said Dr. Peterson, who is widely known as Canada's music ambassador to the world. "I have always wanted to feel respected at home in Canada." National Librarian Dr. Roch Carrier took the opportunity to thank Dr. Peterson for his donations to the National Library's collection. "Oscar Peterson has given us a half century of musical excellence. We're very pleased he has chosen this way to share the evidence of his outstanding career with all Canadians." Dr. Carrier added that the exhibition would open to the public on Canada Day, July 1, at 9:00 a.m. and remain open until 10:30 p.m., seven days a week, until June 23, 2001. Admission is free. The Library has also developed a Web site dedicated to Oscar Peterson and his music. The site can be found at www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/oscarpeterson. Dr. Carrier extended words of thanks to corporate sponsor Yamaha Canada Music Ltd./Musique Ltée for making an exhibition of such magnitude possible. The National Library of Canada is the home to Canada's published heritage in all formats. As part of its mandate, the Library makes its collections available to all Canadians through loans across the country, by providing Canadian content on the Internet and through exhibitions such as Oscar Peterson: A Jazz Sensation. -30- For more information, contact: Randall Ware Tim Maloney |