UWO - Hooding of Oscar Peterson

272nd CONVOCATION, The UNIVERSITY of WESTERN ONTARIO
Tuesday, June 8, 1999

CONFERRING OF THE HONORARY DEGREE
Dr. W.A. Bridger, Vice-President (Research),
will present the citation and request the Vice-Chancellor to confer the degree
Doctor of Laws, honoris causa, upon: 

OSCAR PETERSON
who will be hooded by Professor D.Bratuz, Faculty of Music

I told Oscar Peterson that I belonged to the generation of European musicians who had first witnessed a Viennese classical pianist, Fiedrich Gulda, seriously cultivating jazz as well, considering it to be an art of improvisation similar to that of the Baroque period ("Oh, he is still at it!” replied Peterson).

I also told him – a bit  conspiratorially - that I had assigned to some of my  piano students his Canadiana Suite, and they had even presented it in  their piano exams, to the dismay of some of my colleagues... He shook my hand….