Peter Pringle (born September 7, 1945) is a Canadian musician and television personality,Christian Rioux
"Peter Pringle"
''

The Canadian Encyclopedia ''The Canadian Encyclopedia'' (TCE; ) is the national encyclopedia of Canada, published online by the Toronto-based historical organization Historica Canada, with financial support by the federal Department of Canadian Heritage and Society of Com ...

'', July 18, 2007. most prominent in the 1970s and 1980s.

Early career

Pringle began performing at age six in the

children's choir A choir ( ), also known as a chorale or chorus (from Latin ''chorus'', meaning 'a dance in a circle') is a musical ensemble of singers. Choral music, in turn, is the music written specifically for such an ensemble to perform or in other words ...

of the

Canadian Opera Company The Canadian Opera Company (COC) is an opera company in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is the largest opera company in Canada and one of the largest producers of opera in North America. The COC performs at the Four Seasons Centre for the Performin ...

. He later studied a variety of classical instruments, including

lute A lute ( or ) is any plucked string instrument with a neck (music), neck and a deep round back enclosing a hollow cavity, usually with a sound hole or opening in the body. It may be either fretted or unfretted. More specifically, the term "lu ...

sitar The sitar ( or ; ) is a plucked stringed instrument, originating from the Indian subcontinent, used in Hindustani classical music. The instrument was invented in the 18th century, and arrived at its present form in 19th-century India. Khusrau K ...

and

surbahar ''Surbahar'' (; ) sometimes known as bass sitar, is a plucked string instrument used in the Hindustani classical music of the Indian subcontinent. It is closely related to the sitar, but has a lower pitch. Depending on the instrument's size, i ...

canoe.ca Canoe.com is an English-language Canadian portal site and website network, and is a subsidiary of Postmedia Network. The phrase Canadian Online Explorer appears in the header; the name is also evidently a play on words on canoe (or ''canoë'' in ...

Pop Music Encyclopedia. financing his studies by writing pop songs. Several of his songs were recorded by

Anne Murray Morna Anne Murray (born June 20, 1945) is a retired Canadian country, pop and adult contemporary music singer who has sold over 55 million album copies worldwide during her over 40-year career. Murray has won four Grammys including the Grammy ...

, for whom he also performed as a backing vocalist. There have been occasional erroneous claims made in internet forums that Pringle's real name is David Murray, and that he is Anne Murray's brother. While Anne Murray did have a brother named David, he was a surgeon rather than a musician, and he died in 2021.

Recording

Pringle moved to

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

in 1975, and released his self-titled debut album the following year. He then moved to

Montreal Montreal is the List of towns in Quebec, largest city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Quebec, the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-largest in Canada, and the List of North American cit ...

in 1980, and continued to record pop songs in both English and French. He is a two-time

Juno Award The Juno Awards (stylized as JUNOS), or simply known as the Junos, are awards presented by Canadian Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences, the Canadian Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences to recognize outstanding achievements in Canada's mu ...

nominee for Most Promising Male Vocalist, at the

Juno Awards of 1978 The Juno Awards of 1978, representing Canadian music industry achievements of the previous year, were awarded on 29 March 1978 in Toronto at a ceremony hosted for a second consecutive year by David Steinberg at the Harbour Castle Hilton Conventio ...

and the

Juno Awards of 1982 Juno commonly refers to: *Juno (mythology), the Roman goddess of marriage and queen of the gods * ''Juno'' (film), the 2007 film Juno may also refer to: Arts, entertainment and media Fictional characters *Juno, a character in the book ''Juno of ...

. In 1985, he participated in the recording of " Les Yeux de la faim", a French-language

charity single A charity record, charity album, or charity single is a recording with most or all proceeds raised going to a dedicated foundation or charity. In 1956, The Lord's Taverners released a 78 rpm disc which contained six tracks donated by popular artis ...

for the 1983–85 famine in Ethiopia, alongside musicians such as

René Simard René Claude Simard, , (born February 28, 1961) is a pop singer from Quebec. He is the older brother of Nathalie Simard. Early life Simard was born in Chicoutimi, Quebec. Career In 1974, René Simard was awarded the Grand Prix by Frank Sinatra ...

Nathalie Simard Nathalie Simard (born 7 July 1969) is a pop singer from Quebec, Canada, and the younger sister of performer René Simard. Simard was born in Île d'Orléans, near Quebec City, and was discovered by producer Guy Cloutier. Her first role was in ...

André Gagnon André Gagnon (2 August 1936 – 3 December 2020) was a Canadian pianist, composer, conductor, arranger, and actor, known for his fusion of classical and pop styles,Jean-Pierre Thiollet, ''88 notes pour piano solo'', Neva Editions, 2015, p.16 ...

Yvon Deschamps Yvon Deschamps (born July 31, 1935, in Montreal, Quebec) is a Quebec author, actor, comedian and producer best known for his monologues. His social-commentary-tinged humour propelled him to prominence in Quebec popular culture in the 1970s and 1 ...

Gilles Vigneault Gilles Vigneault (; born 27 October 1928) is a Canadian poet, Publishing, publisher, singer-songwriter, and Quebec nationalism, Quebec nationalist and Quebec sovereignty movement, sovereigntist. Two of his songs are considered by many to be Qu ...

Nanette Workman Nanette Joan Workman (born 20 November 1945, Brooklyn, New York, United States) is a singer-songwriter, actress and author, who has been based in Ormstown, Quebec, Canada, during much of her career. She holds dual citizenship of both the United ...

and

Patsy Gallant Patricia Gallant (born August 15, 1948, in Campbellton, New Brunswick New Brunswick is a Provinces and Territories of Canada, province of Canada, bordering Quebec to the north, Nova Scotia to the east, the Gulf of Saint Lawrence to the no ...

, and in 1986 he was one of the performers at Canada's first major benefit concert for

HIV/AIDS The HIV, human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) is a retrovirus that attacks the immune system. Without treatment, it can lead to a spectrum of conditions including acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS). It is a Preventive healthcare, pr ...

, alongside

Michel Louvain Michel Louvain, (July 12, 1937April 14, 2021) was a Canadian singer most popular in the 1960s and 1970s.

Joe Bocan Joe Bocan is the stage name of Johanne Beauchamp (born September 8, 1957), a Canadian pop singer and actress from Quebec.

, Denny Christianson and

Les Grands Ballets Canadiens Les Grands Ballets Canadiens de Montréal (GBCM) is a ballet company based in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. A creative and repertory company, it performs works that reflect the diverse trends of contemporary ballet. History Les Grands Ballets Canadien ...

. In 1986, he garnered a

Genie Award The Genie Awards were given out annually by the Academy of Canadian Cinema and Television to recognize the best of Canadian cinema from 1980–2012. They succeeded the Canadian Film Awards (1949–1978), known as the "Etrog Awards" for sculptor ...

nomination for

Best Original Song The following is a list of categories of awards commonly awarded through organizations that bestow film awards, including those presented by various films, festivals, and people's awards. Best Actor/Best Actress *See Best Actor#Film awards, Best ...

for "Cold As Ice", a song he co wrote with Kevin Hunter, for the soundtrack to the film ''

Toby McTeague ''Toby McTeague'' is a 1986 Canadian children's action film, action-adventure film, adventure drama (film and television), drama film directed by Jean-Claude Lord. It stars Yannick Bisson as Toby McTeague, a teenager training to compete in a dog s ...

'';"New Genie ballots sent out after 'Cold as Ice' mix-up". ''

Vancouver Sun The ''Vancouver Sun'', also known as the ''Sun'', is a daily broadsheet newspaper based in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. The newspaper is currently published by the Pacific Newspaper Group, a division of Postmedia Network, and is the larg ...

'', February 17, 1987. a minor controversy resulted when the song was mistakenly omitted from the first round of ballots sent out to

Academy of Canadian Cinema and Television The Academy of Canadian Cinema & Television is a Canadian non-profit organization created in 1979 to recognize the achievements of the over 4,000 Canadian cinema of Canada, film industry and television in Canada, television industry professionals ...

voters, forcing the Academy to send out replacement ballots. In this era, he was also a regular host of the Miss Teen Canada pageant, and hosted television

variety Variety may refer to: Arts and entertainment Entertainment formats * Variety (radio) * Variety show, in theater and television Films * ''Variety'' (1925 film), a German silent film directed by Ewald Andre Dupont * ''Variety'' (1935 film), ...

specials for

TVA The Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) is a federally owned electric utility corporation in the United States. TVA's service area covers all of Tennessee, portions of Alabama, Mississippi, and Kentucky, and small areas of Georgia, North Carolina ...

. Since 2007 he has gained recognition online for performing ancient epics and poems on his Youtube channel. He uses a wide variety of instruments from the lyre to the hurdy-gurdy and performs many of these poems in their original ancient languages. His recording of the initial verses of the

Epic of Gilgamesh The ''Epic of Gilgamesh'' () is an epic poetry, epic from ancient Mesopotamia. The literary history of Gilgamesh begins with five Sumerian language, Sumerian poems about Gilgamesh (formerly read as Sumerian "Bilgames"), king of Uruk, some of ...

has over 11.5 million views as of May 2025.

Acting

In 1987, Pringle premiered a one-man theatrical show in which he portrayed

Noël Coward Sir Noël Peirce Coward (16 December 189926 March 1973) was an English playwright, composer, director, actor, and singer, known for his wit, flamboyance, and what ''Time (magazine), Time'' called "a sense of personal style, a combination of c ...

, mixing a dramatic monologue with performances of Coward's songs. He toured the show across Canada several times over the next number of years, as well as creating and performing several other

musical revue ''Musical Revue'' is a live album featuring Prince Far I and Suns of Arqa released on ROIR Europe in 1988. The album was produced by Phil Rainford and features a live recording of Prince Far I with Suns of Arqa at Band on the Wall in Mancheste ...

shows, including ''From Irving Berlin to Gilles Vigneault'', a show based on the biblical ''

Song of Songs The Song of Songs (), also called the Canticle of Canticles or the Song of Solomon, is a Biblical poetry, biblical poem, one of the five ("scrolls") in the ('writings'), the last section of the Tanakh. Unlike other books in the Hebrew Bible, i ...

'' and ''New York-Paris, a Musical Voyage''. In 1994, he also appeared as Duncan in a production of

Wendy Wasserstein Wendy Wasserstein (October 18, 1950 – January 30, 2006) was an American playwright. She was an Andrew Dickson White Professor-at-Large at Cornell University. She received the Tony Award for Best Play and the Pulitzer Prize for Drama in 1989 ...

's play ''

The Sisters Rosensweig ''The Sisters Rosensweig'' is a play by Wendy Wasserstein. The play focuses on three Jewish-American sisters and their lives. It "broke theatrical ground by concentrating on a non-traditional cast of three middle-aged women." Wasserstein receive ...

''.

Theremin

Pringle released a compilation album, ''Comme j'étais - comme je suis!'', in 1996, and then retired from recording or performing pop music. By 1998, Pringle began to reemerge as a

theremin The theremin (; originally known as the ætherphone, etherphone, thereminophone or termenvox/thereminvox) is an electronic musical instrument controlled without physical contact by the performer (who is known as a thereminist). It is named aft ...

player. He has released two independent albums of theremin music, has performed on the instrument both in solo shows and with the

Montreal Chamber Orchestra Montreal is the largest city in the province of Quebec, the second-largest in Canada, and the ninth-largest in North America. It was founded in 1642 as '' Ville-Marie'', or "City of Mary", and is now named after Mount Royal Mount Royal ...

, and has released a number of

YouTube YouTube is an American social media and online video sharing platform owned by Google. YouTube was founded on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim who were three former employees of PayPal. Headquartered in ...

videos of his performances of both classical and modern pieces on the instrument."Theremin's ethereal instrument; Us Conductors imagines the strange world of the Soviet scientist and spy who invented his eponymous device". ''

Montreal Gazette ''The Gazette'', also known as the ''Montreal Gazette'', is a Canadian English-language broadsheet daily newspaper which is owned by Postmedia Network. It is published in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. It is the only English-language daily newspape ...

'', April 12, 2014.

Discography

*''Peter Pringle'' (1976) *''Rain Upon The Sea'' (1981) *''Magicien'' (1981) *''Fifth Avenue Blue'' (1982) *''Pour Une Femme'' (1982) *''Souris-Moi'' (1984) *''Fantasies'' (1984) *''Chansons d'amour'' (1984) *''Pauvre Casanova'' (1985) *''Noel Coward: A Portrait'' (1987) *''Le Jeu d'amour'' (1991) *''Le Secret du Cantique des Cantiques'' (1992) *''Comme j'étais - comme je suis!'' (1996) *''Many Voices'' (2003) *''A Theremin Jewel Box'' *''Dancing Alone'' (2021)

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Pringle, Peter 1945 births Living people Canadian male singers Canadian pop singers Canadian pop pianists Canadian jazz singers Canadian jazz pianists Canadian male songwriters 20th-century Canadian dramatists and playwrights Canadian male stage actors Canadian male musical theatre actors French-language singers of Canada Musicians from Halifax, Nova Scotia Musicians from Montreal Canadian television variety show hosts Theremin players Canadian male dramatists and playwrights Beauty pageant hosts Canadian YouTubers Writers from Halifax, Nova Scotia Writers from Montreal 20th-century Canadian male writers 21st-century Canadian pianists 21st-century Canadian male musicians Canadian male jazz musicians Canadian male jazz pianists YouTubers from Montreal Singers from Nova Scotia