Measha Brueggergosman-Lee and Oscar Peterson Are Vancouver Favourites
On February 23, 2023, the Vancouver Symphony Gala presented by Nicola Wealth will welcome guests back to the Vancouver Convention Centre West to celebrate the power of music and raise funds for the VSO and VSO School of Music (VSO SoM). At this event, the BC Entertainment Hall of Fame will honour Measha Brueggergosman-Lee and Oscar Peterson as Vancouver Favourites.
Peterson’s widow Kelly Peterson will be in attendance to accept the award on her late-husband’s behalf, and Ms. Brueggergosman-Lee will be performing with the VSO.
About Measha Brueggergosman-Lee
Motivated and hungry for new experiences, Ms. Brueggergosman-Lee’s career effortlessly embraces the broadest array of performance platforms and musical styles and genres.
Measha began her career predominantly committed to the art of the song recital and has presented innovative programs at Carnegie Hall, Washington’s Kennedy Center, London’s Wigmore Hall, both the Konzerthaus and Musikverein in Vienna, Madrid’s Teatro Real, as well as at the Schwarzenberg, Edinburgh, Verbier and Bergen Festivals with celebrated collaborative pianists Justus Zeyen, Roger Vignoles, Julius Drake, and Simon Lepper.
On the opera stage, her recent highlights include the roles of Giulietta and Antonia in Les contes d’Hoffmann, Elettra in Idomeneo, Jenny in Weill’s Mahagonny, Emilia Marty in Janáček’s Věc Makropulos, Hannah in Miroslav Srnka’s Make No Noise, and Sister Rose in Jake Heggie’s Dead Man Walking. On the concert platform last season she returned to Carnegie Hall with the New World Symphony, performed Elettra in Idomeneo at Opera Atelier, Toronto, and gave a recital at the Barbican Center, London. She has also recently worked with the Orchestre de Paris, the Philadelphia Orchestra, the Los Angeles Philharmonic, San Francisco Symphony and New World Symphony. Orchestras and conductors such as Daniel Barenboim, Michael Tilson Thomas, Franz Welser-Möst, Sir Andrew Davis, Gustavo Dudamel and Daniel Harding.
Her first recording for Deutsche Grammophon, Surprise, includes works by Schoenberg, Satie and Bolcom and is one of the most highly regarded debut albums of recent years. Her subsequent disc Night and Dreams, which features songs by Mozart, Brahms, Strauss, Schubert, Debussy, Duparc and Fauré won several awards and her recording of the Wesendonck Lieder with Franz Welser-Möst and the Cleveland Orchestra earned her a Grammy nomination.
Off the stage, Measha is just as active: she recently released her memoir “Something Is Always On Fire” published by Harper Collins, she appears regularly on primetime TV (most recently advocating on behalf of contemporary Canadian literature); and leading Canadian children across the country in song, in celebration of the nationwide campaign for music education.
Measha Brueggergosman-Lee champions the education and involvement of new audiences and holds several honorary doctorates and ambassadorial titles with international charities.
About Oscar Peterson
An eminent jazz pianist with technical mastery and limitless creativity, Oscar Peterson was a performer who could instantly inspire awe. He earned the nickname “Maharaja of the Keyboard” from none other than Duke Ellington, and can count many of the greatest names in jazz among his devoted legion of fans.
Peterson was born August 15, 1925, in Montreal. His performance career began while he was still in high school, as pianist with the Johnny Holmes Orchestra. After a few years with the orchestra, he formed his own trio, the first in a format he maintained throughout his lifelong career.
Peterson began composing while still a member of the Johnny Holmes Orchestra, and devoted more and more time to composition while still maintaining a vigorous performance schedule. His “Hymn To Freedom” became one of the crusade songs of the civil rights movement led by Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. It is still performed by choirs worldwide. He also composed a salute to his beloved Canada, “The Canadiana Suite,” in the early 1960s.
Peterson has an extensive discography with his trio and quartet recordings, as well as recordings with many other jazz greats. His albums include appearances from Ella Fitzgerald, Count Basie, Louis Armstrong, Duke Ellington, Dizzy Gillespie, Roy Eldridge, Ben Webster, Coleman Hawkins and Joe Pass.
During his life and career, Peterson received many awards and honours. These include the Praemium Imperiale (the arts equivalent of the Nobel Prize, presented by the Japan Art Association), the UNESCO International Music Prize, eight Grammy Awards (including a Lifetime Achievement Grammy), the 1993 Glenn Gould Prize (of which he was the third recipient, the first chosen by unanimous decision and the first ever non-classical musician) and many honourary degrees.
His passion for life, love and music remained strong throughout his life, and he continued to perform until shortly before his death. Oscar Peterson passed away at his home on the morning of December 23, 2007. His legacy lives on through his incredible music. – Source – Canadian Music Hall of Fame
