Daisy Sweeney

{{Short description|Canadian music teacher}}

{{Infobox musical artist

| name = Daisy Peterson Sweeney

| image = Oscar Peterson with his sister, Daisy, at the piano - 1944.jpg

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| caption = Oscar Peterson with his sister, Daisy, at the piano, 1944

| birth_name = Daisy Elitha Peterson

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| birth_date = May 7, 1920

| birth_place = Montreal, Quebec, Canada

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| death_date = {{death date and age|2017|8|11|1920|5|7}}

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| genre = Classical

| occupation = Music and Piano Teacher

| instrument = Piano

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}}

Daisy Elitha Peterson Sweeney (May 7, 1920 – August 11, 2017) was a Canadian classical music and piano teacher, known for having taught many of the most notable figures in Canadian jazz music.

Sweeney was born Daisy Peterson in Montreal in 1920. Her students included Oliver Jones, Ken Skinner, Joe Sealy, Reg Wilson, and her brother, Oscar Peterson.{{cite web |title=Daisy Peterson Sweeney |url=http://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/daisy-peterson-sweeney-emc/ |website=Historica Canada |accessdate=May 15, 2017}} Sweeney would take her students to McGill University for preparatory exams and performances.{{cite news |url=https://montrealgazette.com/news/local-news/street-to-be-named-for-daisy-peterson-sweeney-coderre |title=Street to be named for Daisy Peterson Sweeney: Coderre |date=August 16, 2017 |newspaper=Montreal Gazette |accessdate=August 20, 2017}}

Beyond teaching, she also co-founded the Montreal Black Community Youth Choir (now called the Montreal Jubilation Gospel Choir) with Trevor W. Payne in 1974.{{cite web |title=International Women's Day: Women who helped shape Montreal |url=http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/montreal/montreal-heroines-international-womens-day-1.3480455 |website=CBC News |publisher=CBC/Radio-Canada |accessdate=May 15, 2017 |date=March 8, 2016}} She was also the mother of Canadian Olympic athlete and television journalist Sylvia Sweeney.{{Cite web |url=http://www.nccmontreal.org/en/biographies.htm |first=Kenneth |last=Hemmerick |website=NCC Montreal |title=Biographies |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20070929152644/http://www.nccmontreal.org/en/biographies.htm |archivedate=September 29, 2007}} Montreal Mayor Denis Coderre tweeted in August 2017 that he intends for the city to name a street after her.{{Cite news |url=http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/montreal/montreal-street-to-be-named-daisy-peterson-sweeney-1.4250647 |title='We won't forget you': Montreal street to be named after Daisy Sweeney |work=CBC News |access-date=August 17, 2017}}

In 2018, Sweeney was honoured with a community mural on a building in Montreal's Little Burgundy neighbourhood.[https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/montreal/daisy-sweeney-mural-1.4875409 "Daisy Sweeney mural 'captures her spirit,' says daughter at unveiling"]. CBC News Montreal, October 23, 2018. The artist, Kevin Ledo, also painted a mural of Leonard Cohen in the city's Plateau neighbourhood.