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Melissa Auf der Maur. Bass guitarist, singer, songwriter, photographer, b Montreal 17 Mar 1972. Melissa Auf der Maur is the daughter of Montreal journalist Nick Auf der Maur and former Montreal rock radio disc jockey Linda Gaboriau.
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Michael James Aleck Snow, CC, RCA, artist, filmmaker, musician (born 10 December 1929 in Toronto, ON; died 5 January 2023). Michael Snow was one of Canada’s most acclaimed visual artists and avant garde filmmakers. His work was concerned with redefining the relationships between various media, the acts and interpretations of perception, and the complex interplay of sound, language and meaning. A Companion of the Order of Canada and a Chevalier of France’s Ordre des Arts et des Lettres, he was the first recipient of the Governor General’s Award in Visual and Media Arts. He also won a Molson Prize, a Guggenheim Fellowship and the Gershon Iskowitz Prize, among many other honours.
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Oliver Theophilus Jones, OC, CQ, pianist, organist, composer, arranger (born 11 September 1934 in Montreal, QC). A musical prodigy, Oliver Jones is one of the best-known and most talented Canadian jazz pianists of all time. He studied piano in his youth with Daisy Peterson Sweeney, sister of Oscar Peterson, and spent much of his career working in pop and variety settings. Jones drew critical notice for his technical dexterity and rollicking swing, often eliciting comparisons to Peterson. He received Félix Awards in 1989, 1994, 2007 and 2008, and Juno Awards in 1986 and 2009. An Officer of the Order of Canada and a Knight of the Ordre national du Québec, he was inducted into the Canadian Music Hall of Fame in 2023.
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Oscar Emmanuel Peterson, CC, CQ, OOnt, jazz pianist, composer, educator (born 15 August 1925 in Montréal, QC; died 23 December 2007 in Mississauga, ON). Oscar Peterson was one of the greatest jazz pianists of all time. He was famous for his speed and dexterity, flawless technique and swinging style. He earned the nicknames “the brown bomber of boogie-woogie” and “master of swing.” Louis Armstrong called him “the man with four hands.” Peterson released several albums a year from the 1950s until his death. He played on more than 200 albums by other artists. He was also a noted jazz educator and advocate for racial equality. He won a Juno Award and eight Grammy Awards. He was the first person to receive the Governor General’s Performing Arts Award for Lifetime Achievement. He was inducted into the Canadian Music Hall of Fame and the International Jazz Hall of Fame. He was also made a Companion of the Order of Canada and an Officer in the Order of Arts and Letters in France. This article is a plain-language summary of Oscar Peterson. If you are interested in reading about this topic in more depth, please see our full-length entry: Oscar Peterson.
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Reginald Cornelis Egbert Schwager, CM, jazz guitarist, composer (born 7 May 1962 in Leiden, Netherlands). Reg Schwager is one of Canada’s most acclaimed jazz guitarists. Over the course of his 40-year career, he has played with such notable musicians as Peter Appleyard, Diana Krall, Mel Tormé, Chet Baker, Rob McConnell and Oliver Jones. Schwager was named Guitarist of the Year at the National Jazz Awards four years in a row (2005–08) and was made a Member of the Order of Canada in 2021.
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Jaime (Robbie) Robertson, OC, guitarist, songwriter, singer, actor, producer, executive (born 5 July 1943 in Toronto, ON; died 9 August 2023 in Los Angeles, California). Robbie Robertson saw success as one of the key songwriters and musicians in The Band. Later, his solo work involved collaborations with Bob Dylan, John Hammond and Daniel Lanois. He also worked in the film industry as a composer, actor and producer. Robertson was nominated for five Grammy Awards and won five Juno Awards, including two for Producer of the Year. An Officer of the Order of Canada, he was inducted into Canada’s Walk of Fame and the Canadian Songwriter’s Hall of Fame. He received multiple lifetime achievement awards, including a Governor General’s Performing Arts Award.
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Shawn Hook (born Shawn Hlookoff), singer, songwriter, actor, music producer, philanthropist (born 5 September 1984 in Castlegar, BC). Shawn Hook is a pop singer-songwriter best known for the double platinum singles "Sound of Your Heart” and “Reminding Me” (featuring Vanessa Hudgens). He has been nominated for three Juno Awards and received the Allan Slaight Music Impact Honour from Canada’s Walk of Fame in 2017.
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Shawn Peter Raul Mendes, singer, songwriter, model, mental health advocate (born 8 August 1998 in Pickering, ON). Pop phenom Shawn Mendes followed in the footsteps of earlier Canadian pop music star Justin Bieber, building a following online in his teens before signing with a major label. Mendes is the only artist to have four No. 1 singles on the Adult Pop Songs chart before the age of 20. Released when he was 16, his first full-length studio album, Handwritten (2015), debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 and quickly went platinum in the US. In fact, his first four albums all debuted at No. 1. Together they have sold more than 4 million copies in the US, while Mendes’s singles have sold more than 13 million copies. He has received 13 Juno Awards and 20 SOCAN Awards, as well as three Grammy Award nominations.
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Saskatoon blues rockers the Sheepdogs were plucked from obscurity in 2011 when they won a Rolling Stone contest. On 18 August 2011, they became the first unsigned band ever featured on the cover of the famed music magazine. The Sheepdogs have since released seven studio albums and won four Juno Awards, including New Group of the Year, Single of the Year and Rock Album of the Year in 2012. They have had two platinum albums and two platinum singles (“I Don’t Know” and “Feeling Good”) in Canada.
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Thomas (Tom) Jackson, CC, singer, songwriter, actor, social activist (born 27 October 1948 on the One Arrow First Nation Reserve, SK). Tom Jackson has received numerous awards throughout his musical and acting career. Additionally, he has been recognized through numerous honorary degrees. A version of this entry originally appeared in the Encyclopedia of Music in Canada.
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He began studying cello at the age of seven. He first attended the Moscow Central Music 1946-57, then pursued his studies at the Moscow Conservatory with Galina Kozolupova 1957-69.
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Yuval R. Fichman. Pianist, b Tel Aviv, 21 Mar 1965, naturalized Canadian 1972; ARCT 1981. His family moved to Toronto in 1967 and in 1976 he continued his piano studies at the Royal Conservatory of Music with Mildred Kenton and Andrew Markow.
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Yves Beaupré. Harpsichord maker, b Montreal 21 Mar 1954; B MUS (Montreal) 1980. He first devoted himself to performance and was trained at the St-Laurent Cegep and at the University of Montreal.
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Daoust, Yves. Composer, teacher, b Longueuil, near Montreal 10 Apr 1946. Daoust began studies in piano at age seven, wrote a film soundtrack for "prepared" piano at 16, and at 19 completed his first electronic work, for a Berlin theatre.
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Yves Lambert, CM, singer, musician (born 15 September 1956 in Joliette, QC). Yves Lambert rose to fame in Quebec as a founding member of La Bottine souriante. The folk music group had three platinum albums and four gold albums in Canada and won multiple Juno Awards and Félix Awards. Lambert has been credited with popularizing traditional Québécois folk music while also reinventing it. His musical style blends folk music with traditional Quebec, Acadian, Celtic and country music styles. He has been described as a pillar of Quebec’s living heritage. Lambert was named Traditional Singer of the Year at the 2010 Canadian Folk Music Awards and has twice won the Conseil québécois de la musique (Québec Music Council) Opus Award. He was made a Member of the Order of Canada in 2021.
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