Born and raised in suburban Toronto, Canada, Patricia
found herself reluctantly entertaining her parents' friends and family on the
piano whenever they'd stop by for visits. But what she found sometimes tedious
in childhood and walked away from when high school beckoned (much to her
parents' dismay, having paid for six years of piano lessons), she returned to as
a teenager, when she discovered an Elton John music book. From this, she began
playing her favourite tunes, by both sight and ear. It is on the piano as an
adult that she has written over one hundred songs.
Patricia has been a fixture on the Toronto music scene
since 1983, having played the lounge, wedding, private, corporate and country
club circuit for much of that time.
Among the countless venues at which she has appeared
are The Rex, The Fairmont Royal York Hotel, The Doctor's House, The Art Gallery
of Ontario and the famed Tom Jones Steak House, where she was the resident
pianist for 18 months. A highlight of this period was accompanying the wonderful
R&B vocal group The Temptations on piano during an impromptu hotel lounge
jam session one evening in Basel, Switzerland during her 1993 gig there. In
1991, she joined Toronto's Hurricanes Dance Band, where she currently sings big
band swing classics. In addition, she joins the Patricia Duffy Trio for more
intimate engagements, covering the beautiful standards of the
day.
She has been an actress as well, appearing in
productions of “Oliver!”, “Fiddler on the Roof”, as Gwendolyn in “The Odd
Couple”, Felicity in“The Real Inspector Hound”, Lora in “Impromptu”, and others.
In addition, she has credits as Musical Director on the shows “Nunsense” and
“The Paisley Sisters Christmas Special”, for which she also played the role of
Lonnie Paisley. Other notable achievements include the role of Anne Shirley in
the classic Canadian musical “Anne of Green Gables” and the Outstanding Vocalist
Award for three consecutive years at the Canadian Big Band Dance Festival in
Ontario. She has also performed pop, as vocalist with rock group The Third
Degree Band, and as Frida in the ABBA tribute band “Thank You for the Music”, in
addition to having been a session vocalist on the recordings of other
writers.
Patricia has just released her third CD of original
material, an adult-contemporary collection entitled Haunting Lily. This
recording follows her 2007 self-written jazz CD, on which she was honoured to
have legendary drummer Archie Alleyne and superbly gifted pianist Robi Botos
join her in the studio.
Songwriting and recording are an enormous source of
joy for her, as is performing live.
For bookings, contact:
patriciaduffy1@live.com
(647) 688-0513
CDs available at www.itunes.com