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Peter was honoured to perform at the William Lutsky YMCA’s 10th birthday celebration and also help the Edmonton YMCA mark 100 years of innovative community building. |
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Peter was commissioned to write a 10th anniversary song for the William Lutsky YMCA in Edmonton, Alberta. The Y’s enthusiastic mascot “Spirit” gave a big thumbs up to his inclusion in the song! |
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Here’s a man who loves his job! A heartfelt concert moment at the Leduc Discovery Days celebrations, Alberta. This snapshot captures Peter’s sheer joy in singing and playing... The artist caught in a “blissed out” state of communion with the audience! |
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A rare glimpse of Peter's point-of-view on a major concert stage! Peter Puffin was honoured to score the first act slot on the Main Stage at the Shaw Millenium Park on Canada Day! The event was organized by City of Calgary and attracted over 40,000! Peter was whisked away right after his set... for a 90 minute drive to Claresholm, Alberta, to perform from a flatbed truck! Yeeeeee-hah! |
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Either Peter brings a hot lunch for the audience at his concerts these days... or there was an opening act called "Hot Lunch"... or maybe Peter is traveling with a backing band these days! Actually... most of Peter's shows are solo... though there are plans to collaborate with Wendy Passmore of W.P. Puppet Theatre... and rumours about a backing band for a CD release tour in the near future, that would feature the awesome players from the CD. |
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Peter improvises a cape from one of his stage banners at an Edmonton concert... to accompany a "concert favorite" performance of Guy Clark's song "The Cape". The popular recorded version can be found on Peter's "Passengers" CD.
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Audience members are delighted to model animal costumes of endangered species in Peter's highly interactive concerts. |
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Peter Puffin & Jocelyn Hawkins blend their own brand of mischievousness with music, theatre, visual arts, storytelling and various forms of puppetry in their collaboration "Save This Greenhouse" concerts and artists-in-residence programmes.
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Artist Tracey Harris showing Peter her designs for a multi-panel stage banner backdrop, that was premiered at the Winnipeg International Children's Festival shows.
Tracey is a greatly appreciated part of that large "we" behind the "me" that Peter is fond of mentioning when people ask about the elaborate staging of shows.
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Peter also works with smaller groups of students as an Artist/Scientist-in-Residence. This is Kelly Small's photo of her class at Janet Johnstone School, Calgary, Alberta, Canada. |
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Canada Day Celebrations at Prince's Island park, Calgary, Alberta, Canada. These days, you need to arrive early for a Peter Puffin concert!"
Photo credit: Debbie Marzolf. |
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Some of Peter's concert gear... you can see why he gets the "Duct Tape Blues!" (Available on the CD "Peter Puffin's Whale Tales" as a demo version and
on the "Proud Like A Mountain" CD with many more instruments and
voices!) |
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Peter in front of a sold-out audience of one thousand kids
and adults, Mississauga International Children's Festival, Ontario, Canada.
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A special guest, a rare burrowing owl, joined Peter Puffin 'live' at a return visit to Senator Buchanan School in Lethbridge, Alberta.
The lyrics of the songs offer a chance to learn about science and environmental stewardship while singing along and having fun.
The school vice principal mentioned that "The students had been buzzing about the upcoming performance for over a month!"
photo by Johny Mantello
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Peter Puffin 'live' in Jasper, Alberta, October, 2001. One of many magical moments in a Peter Puffin concert captured on the faces of the kids and Peter himself.
Peter is often spending longer in each school, doing workshops with students and teachers, addressing curriculum-tied themes and facilitating student lead resentations that use the arts to teach science and environmental literacy.
photo by Kevin Gill, Jasper Booster
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Capturing sounds... leaving only footprints... Peter recording river and waterfall sounds for the next CD. |
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What rhymes with puffin?!!??
Peter with his Baby Taylor travel guitar during
a canoeing trip on the Bowron Lakes, BC. |
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"Storytelling through song and theatre are an efficient way to encourage environmental awareness, knowledge and ACTION... for kids AND adults.
The seeds of conservation stewardship and living sustainable lifestyles can still be planted in the inquisitive minds of kids, with the hope that they will strive to lessen their ecological footprint on the earth" Peter Lenton |
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Peter is playing more children's and folk festivals these days... pictured here at a SOLD-OUT Calgary International Children's Festival Concert in the Engineered Air Theatre of the Performing Arts Center.
Recent full houses (even a thousand seater!) at the Mississauga International and Canmore Children's Festivals, and mainstage performances at the Dawson City & Jasper Folk Festivals are helping take Peter's songs and environmental messages to wider ranging, ticket buying audiences. |
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Watch out for Peter Puffin in the "Silverado" Volvo! |

Photo by Carol Spring |
A mischievous moment caught 'Live' in Fish Creek
Provincial Park (Calgary), July, 2001.
Peter welcomes opportunities to stage concerts in natural areas. All you need is a generator or a very long extension cord!!!
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Peter was honoured to collaborate with Tania Kelba (right) and Allara Gooliaff (centre), of Three Left Feet Movement Creations, for the Jump 'n' Jam Earth Party Concerts held in August 2000. |
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Guitar slinger Peter Puffin rides a camel named Jimi Hendrix, near Merzouga, Morocco. Peter also wrote songs on local endangered species for two concerts at the American School in Casablanca.
photo by Catherine Wilde
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A typical audience at a Peter Puffin school concert... this one at Annie Foote School in Calgary. Audience sizes have been growing these days, even up to 1000+ at some of the summer shows. Peter played to SOLD-OUT crowds at the Calgary International Children's Festival in May 2000. |
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'Live" audience participation at Blue Lake Provincial Park, Ontario. Peter's songs lend themselves very well for being staged in outdoor amphitheatres and even in natural areas like the North shore of Lake Superior or beside a marsh. Peter welcomes chances to creatively stage concerts.
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Some of Peter's biggest audiences have been at Blue Lake Provincial Park, near Kenora, Ontario. Having performed there in three successive summers, name recognition seems to increase the audience size for return visits. |
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Peter Puffin welcomes collaborations (seen here with Captain Wilderness) with other artists/educators... in this case, Gareth Thomson of the Canadian Parks & Wilderness Society (CPAWS). Gareth & Peter are also board members of the Global and Environmental Outdoor Education Council of the Alberta Teachers' Association.
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