A century after the birth of Oscar Peterson, his influence remains everywhere.

The legendary Canadian pianist, composer and humanitarian changed what was possible at the piano, built a career spanning more than six decades and became one of the most celebrated jazz musicians in the world.

Now, Calgary audiences have more time to explore that legacy.

The National Music Centre’s Timeless: 100 Years of Oscar Peterson has been extended at Studio Bell through January 3, 2027. Originally opened in July 2025 to commemorate the centenary of Peterson’s birth, the exhibition brings together instruments, archival materials, awards, personal artifacts, interviews and multimedia installations to tell the story of one of Canada’s most important musicians.

Peterson was born in Montreal in 1925 and grew up in the city’s Little Burgundy neighbourhood, a historically Black working-class community with a rich musical history. From those beginnings, he went on to become an internationally renowned performer whose virtuosity earned him nicknames including “The Maharaja of the Keyboard” and “The Man with Four Hands.”

His career brought extraordinary recognition. Peterson became the first artist inducted into the Canadian Music Hall of Fame in 1978 and later received honours including the Glenn Gould Prize and a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award. His influence can be heard across generations of musicians, including artists such as Herbie Hancock and Diana Krall.

At Studio Bell, Timeless looks beyond the accolades to explore Peterson as an artist, innovator, educator and advocate.

The exhibition includes equipment from Peterson’s home studio, including vintage synthesizers, electronic instruments and recording gear. The collection offers a closer look at a side of Peterson that audiences may know less about: his early adoption of electronic music technology and continued interest in how new tools could expand his work.

Visitors can also experience performance footage and explore the history of “Hymn to Freedom,” Peterson’s composition that became closely associated with the Civil Rights Movement.

The song remains one of the clearest examples of how Peterson’s work reached beyond technical brilliance.

“Oscar wasn’t just a jazz pianist, he was a mentor, a trailblazer, and a force for social change,” said Kelly Peterson, widow of the late musician, when the exhibition was launched.

Created in collaboration with the Peterson estate, the exhibition brings together material from across his life and career, offering audiences an opportunity to encounter both the public musician and the person behind the piano.

Peterson was also deeply committed to music education. That part of his legacy is reflected through a dedicated kids’ zone featuring interactive instruments and a curated playlist designed to introduce younger listeners to his music.

The exhibition’s original centenary programming also brought Peterson’s influence back to the stage. On August 15, 2025, what would have been Peterson’s 100th birthday, JUNO Award-winning Canadian pianist and former Peterson student Andy Milne performed at Studio Bell. Milne later joined a discussion about Peterson’s artistic influence, with Calgary pianist Sheldon Zandboer performing selections from his work.

For National Music Centre President and CEO Andrew Mosker, Peterson’s legacy is tied to both innovation and possibility.

“Oscar Peterson was a pioneering Canadian artist who redefined what was possible with the piano,” Mosker said at the exhibition’s launch.

That possibility is still worth encountering.

Peterson died in 2007, but his recordings, compositions, mentorship and influence continue to move through jazz and popular music. Timeless places that history in the room, from the instruments he played to the technology he explored and the music that made him one of the defining Canadian artists of the 20th century.

For anyone who missed the exhibition during its original run, the extension offers another chance to spend time with that legacy.

Exhibition Information

Timeless: 100 Years of Oscar Peterson
National Music Centre at Studio Bell
Level 5, National Bank Special Exhibitions Gallery
850 4 Street SE, Calgary
On view until January 3, 2027

The exhibition is accessible with regular paid admission to Studio Bell. Visit studiobell.ca for current admission, hours and visitor information.

& Afro-Disco Makossa: The Dance Floor Record He’s Always Wanted to Spin & More.

Music never arrives without a history. It carries places, technologies, memories and the fingerprints of those who came before.

For our August cover story, Afros in tha City sits down with Adrian Younge to explore the sounds, relationships and creative philosophy behind Afro-Disco Makossa—a record born from his long-held desire to create music for the dance floor without surrendering the depth, musicianship or historical consciousness that defines his work.

Drawing from makossa, soul, funk and disco, the album does not treat these traditions as relics to be reproduced. Younge approaches them as living languages: sounds capable of holding their histories while continuing to move, transform and speak to the present. The result is music designed for movement, connection and deep listening—a record that looks backward only to understand where it might travel next.

But this conversation extends far beyond one album.

Younge reflects on the trust that can only be built through consistency, his enduring creative partnership with Ali Shaheed Muhammad, and the ecosystem they have created through Jazz Is Dead. Rather than positioning legendary musicians as figures frozen in the past, the platform invites living artists to continue creating, experimenting and adding new chapters to their own stories.

He also speaks about attending law school because he wanted to become what he calls “an educated artist”—someone equipped to understand contracts, intellectual property, ownership and the structures surrounding the work. His independence is not simply an aesthetic or an industry label. It is knowledge, preparation, discipline and the infrastructure required to protect a creative life.

That philosophy carries particular weight for an independent publication like ours. Building outside traditional systems requires more than vision. It requires learning how the machinery works, deciding what must remain yours and creating an ecosystem capable of supporting the work long after the excitement of an idea has passed.

Throughout the conversation, Younge retains the curiosity that first led him toward music. “We’re just bigger kids,” he says—a reminder that serious artistic practice does not require abandoning wonder. Growth can mean becoming more skilled, more informed and more intentional while remaining open enough to keep discovering.

This is a cover story about a dance-floor record, but it is also about something larger: how artists honour history without becoming trapped inside it, how independence is built rather than declared, and how curiosity keeps the conversation moving forward.

Adrian Younge covers the August issue of Afros in tha City.

Read “Afro-Disco Makossa: The Dance Floor Record He’s Always Wanted to Spin” at afrosinthacity.com and in our print publication.

Stories Shaping Culture.