Walter Ostanek

BornDuparquet, Québec, Canada

BiographyWalter Ostanek was born 30 April 1935 as Ladislav John Ostanek in Duparquet, a small town in northwestern Québec, but relocated to St. Catharines, Ontario with his family in 1939. He was introduced to the accordion at age five, receiving his first button accordion at age nine and his first piano accordion at age twelve. By 1951, Ostanek had formed his first band, Walter Ostanek Band, giving their first performance in Niagara Falls in 1957 and recording their debut album, Gay Continental Dance Party, in 1963. Throughout the 1960s, Ostanek remained a frequent performer in southern Ontario, focusing primarily on Cleveland- and Slovenian-style polkas and waltzes. Throughout his prolific career, Ostanek recorded 97 albums and 24 singles, both solo and with his bands Walter Ostanek Band, Walter Ostanek and His Polka Kings, and Walter Ostanek and His Polka Band. He has earned 21 Grammy award nominations, and was the recipient of three Grammy awards in 1992, 1993, and 1994 for Best Polka Album. He has hosted numerous television and radio shows, including the well known It’s Polka Time and Polka Party, has appeared on shows such as The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson, The Tommy Hunter Show, and has performed with the Grand Ole Opry in Nashville, Tennessee. Notable recordings include Accordionally Yours, for which he won the Grammy award in 1993, and I Like Frankie Yankovic, a reference to the late Cleveland-based accordionist, also known as ‘America’s Polka King’, whom Ostanek was often compared to. Ostanek was made a member of the Order of Canada in 1999 and was inducted into Canada’s Walk of Fame in 2001. Additionally, he is the only Canadian to have been inducted into the Polka Hall of Fame in Cleveland and the International Polka Association in Chicago in 1988 and 1989, respectively. He also holds an honorary doctorate from Brock University, and numerous other awards, including the Gold Record Award from ARC Recording Co. in Toronto. There have been and still are today a multitude of performers who use piano accordions, however the first serious usage of the instrument is associated with accordionist brothers Pietro Diero (1888-1954) and Guido Diero (1886-1950), who were born in Italy and immigrated in 1907 to San Francisco, California.