On Friday, October 29th the ceremonies for the Praemium Imperiale were concluded by a visit to the Imperial Palace to meet the Emperor and Empress. What a sight! We were particularly struck by the beautifully landscaped gardens throughout the whole setting.
When we arrived we were greeted by the Palace staff at the front door and taken to the reception room, where the press corps was already set up. After a short while, the Empress and Emperor made their entrance and were greeted by the Chairman of the Japan Art Association. The first part of the meeting consisted primarily of Their Highnesses greeting the members of the Advisory Board, after which they then proceeded to greet and welcome each laureate. When my turn arrived, the Empress questioned me about my stroke of years gone by, and they both expressed their pleasure at the fact that I was still able to continue playing.

The affair was one of quiet acknowledgement of what we the laureates had so far managed to accomplish in our various careers in the arts. Their Highnesses then joined us in a relaxed period of conversation along with refreshments, after which they took their leave.

There was a kind of somberness and stillness to this particular occasion that is very difficult to put into words. My feeling after the meeting was that the Emperor ad Empress had brought with them a special aura of grace, and the quiet manner in which they greeted, welcomed and conversed with each of us left us feeling that we had been truly honored by the people of Japan. I came away feeling that my musical endeavors had been duly recognized, lauded and appreciated by the Art Association of Japan. The true meaning of the Praemium Imperiale honor was deeply felt and ingrained in my person. What a fantastic week!

We left Japan for New York City to attend another ceremony, this time honoring a major figure in the Jazz tradition who is only now beginning to receive the recognition he deserves. I'll tell you about this next time.



All photos from Japan by Meghan Hart
©2000 Oscar Peterson

Continuing with the celebration in Tokyo, it was now the third day of events. I must admit that I awoke this day still being affected emotionally by the preceding evening's ceremonies at the Meiji Shrine. As I mentioned, the combination of the beauty of the building, the cleansing ceremony, the downpour of rain, coupled with the playing of the taiko drum, and certainly the performance by the four musicians, aided by the warmth of the greetings by the members of the International Advisors and members of the Japan Art Association, served to make this more than just a memorable evening.

The third day was primarily a day of rest (which we needed) until the late afternoon when we were escorted to the Meiji Kinenkan ceremonial hall for the awards ceremony. The evening started with speeches by the International Advisors and the Chairman of the Japan Art Association, after which the actual presentations were made by Prince Hitachi to each recipient. I was elected to make the acceptance speech on behalf of the laureates. Then there was an official photograph session for the press. This was followed by a cocktail reception where various crafts were exhibited by numerous artists. One particular artist drew my attention because of the unusual character and the spontaneity of his art form. Various people would stand in front of his table, and when one person was selected he would proceed to do an impromptu caricature of this person. What was remarkable was that he was not using pen, pencil or brush to create the caricature, but rather a pair of scissors. Being a person that deals in and admires improvisation in any artist, I found this to be an intriguing and amazing talent. He kindly consented to do a cutout caricature of my daughter Celine, and one of me.

After making the rounds of the different artists in attendance, we proceeded to the banquet hall. I was asked by the Chairman if I would consent to playing a selection for the assembled audience. I agreed to this as another means of saying thank you, and decided to perform a composition of mine, The Love Ballade.

During dinner, I was honored to be seated next to Her Imperial Highness, Princess Hitachi. She told me that the Imperial Family often played my music, and that she particularly liked a selection on an album I had recorded some years ago. She indicated that the tune was “Days of Wine and Roses” and that it was the first track on the album. Then she paused, as if for me to speak. I took that to mean I was to provide the name of the album, and perhaps name the other songs it contained. But I couldn't! It was years ago, and I've recorded so many albums. I wanted to say I didn't remember but was afraid that would appear vain or rude. I was beginning to feel like an idiot when she graciously resumed the conversation, getting me off the hook, as it were.

My daughter Celine and her governess Meghan were seated at a table quite distant from the table I was at, but after the banquet I could tell how excited and thrilled they both were to be able to be present with this wonderful group of people. Another night of unforgettable joy and thankfulness for this great honor that the world of Jazz piano brought me.


All photos from Japan by Meghan Hart
©2000 Oscar Peterson

Welcome back to our coverage of the Praemium Imperiale awards ceremonies in Japan.
For the evening following the press conferences at the Okura Hotel, the Welcoming Dinner for the Laureates was scheduled. But before the dinner we were taken to the Meiji Shrine, which is the shrine for the Imperial Family. It was built for the Meiji Emperor, who reigned in the late 1800s and early 1900s. We were welcomed by the priests, who performed a cleansing ceremony in which our hands were washed and a prayer was said. We then proceeded to another room in the Shrine where the priest gave a blessing.

As fate would have it, on this particular evening Tokyo was experiencing a severe thunder and rain storm. As we learned later, parts of the city were saturated by this torrential downpour. At any rate, because of the storm, the ceremony was punctuated by loud, intermittent claps of thunder. To my mind this added to the mystique of the evening and gave it a pronounced spiritual feeling.

After the priest blessed us, we went into the Temple for a traditional Shinto prayer, and there we encountered yet another unexpected sound – the striking of a Taiko drum. The drum was huge, so large in fact that the two men playing it had to climb ladders in order to strike it as it lay on its side. Most of us were unaware of the impending punctuations by the drummers, and consequently many people performed something very close to an Olympic level high jump at its unexpected sounding! I think our daughter Celine won this event.

After removing our shoes, we were taken into a large room, where we were seated with the other laureates, the members of the Japan Art Association, the International Advisors and members of the press corps.

On a slightly raised stage in front of us I suddenly noticed that there were four musicians seated. I hadn't realized they were there because they were totally immobile, so still they might have been statues. Their instruments comprised two shakuhachis, a koto and a sangen. Two of the players are categorized in Japan as Living National Treasures. One lady is 87, and one gentleman is 99. The other two players' ages are 74 and 71. The musicians were introduced, with the two Living National Treasures being singled out in the introduction, after which they proceeded to perform. The music was extraordinary – truly from another world.


Photo by Meghan Hart
The evening then progressed to an informal dinner in the room where everyone had the opportunity to circulate, greet and converse with the people attending. I took this opportunity to spend some pleasant moments with Sir Edward Heath, the former Prime Minister of Great Britain. We have a friendship that dates back to the 1970s, during which time I had a television series in London. Sir Edward, who is well-known as a serious musician and conductor, appeared on one of the broadcasts with me, and as he impishly put it, "we both managed to escape unscathed."

All of the components of the evening combined to make this a magical event for us, never to be forgotten. I will continue this coverage in the next segment of The Journal.

In October '99 I, along with my wife Kelly, daughter Celine and her governess Meghan Hart, took off on a trip to Japan. I'd been to Japan many times before about 20 times I think, over a period of about 45 years. But this time was different, for I was going not to perform but to receive an award the Praemium Imperiale.

For those of you not familiar with this honor, the Praemium Imperiale was established in 1987 on the occasion of the beginning of the second century of the Japan Art Association. Prince Hitachi, following the wishes of Prince Takematsu, established the award to recognize achievements in the Arts as the Nobel Prize does for accomplishments in Science. The five categories in which the Prize is awarded are: Music, Theatre/Film, Sculpture, Painting, and Architecture.

In June of '99, I had been invited to a press conference in Lincoln Center. It was an impressive affair hosted by David Rockefeller, Jr. with many distinguished guests, including Prince and Princess Hitachi, Sir Edward Heath, Prime Minister Nakasone, Richard von Weizsacker, Umberto Agnelli and Raymond Barre, and Ryuzo Sejima, Chairman of the Japan Art Association. It was at this conference that I was publicly named as one of those nominated for the prize. The nominees in the other categories were: OP with Sir Edward Heath
Japan Photos by Meghan Hart

Pina Bausch, for Theatre/Film
Anselm Kiefer, for Painting
Fumihiko Maki, for Architecture
Louise Bourgeois, for Sculpture.

I accepted my nomination in the names of former Jazz greats Duke Ellington, Ella Fitzgerald, Charlie Parker, Dizzy Gillespie, and other timeless artists in this idiom whom I felt should be the true recipients of this honor.

The Awards ceremony itself was part of a week-long celebration held in Tokyo in October. Upon our arrival at Narita airport, we were greeted by a delegation from the Japan Art Association, and at that time were introduced to the gentleman who was to become our interpreter and general aide throughout the trip, Mr. Russ Yost.

The first few days were primarily rest days in order to orient ourselves to the new time zone we were now in. Then, on Wednesday, October 27, the formalities began. First was a press conference held in the Hotel Okura, a place I had stayed many times before. Each of the laureates made a short speech, followed by a few words from each of the International Advisors. Then the five of us fielded questions from the international press corp that was in attendance.

After this, I attended yet another press conference, this time to introduce the release of the new Oscar Peterson Multimedia CD-ROM and the volume of transcriptions entitled Oscar Peterson: Note for Note. Representatives from PG Music and I answered questions from the Japanese press about this new project. I pointed out that over the years of my career, I haven't had time to answer many of the queries of musicians and listeners alike about my approach to the piano and about the great trios and quartets I was fortunate enough to have. It's my hope that the CD-ROM and book will go some way to answering those questions and will serve to both to enlighten Jazz players and to encourage listeners to deepen their interest in this artistic medium.

In the next OP Journal installment, I'll continue the report of the week of ceremonies in Japan for the Praemium Imperiale. Hope you're enjoying it.