McPeek began performing as a pianist with dance bands in Toronto during the mid-1950s. In the late 1950s he performed with the
Five Playboys with some frequency on
CBC Radio. In 1960 McPeek made his first foray into musical theatre when he became music director of the revue
Up Tempo 60 at the
King Edward Hotel. He went on to compose music for several other theatrical productions between 1963 and 1968, including
That Hamilton Woman,
Suddenly This Summer,
Actually This Autumn, and
Spring Thaw. In 1963 he wrote his first
opera,
The Bargain, which was based on the legend of
Faust. The opera was filmed for
CBC Television in 1966 and was later staged for the first time in 1978 by the
COMUS Music Theatre of Canada. McPeek's original handwritten piano score for the opera is currently held in the collection at the
Canadian Music Centre. In 1964 McPeek established his own company, Ben McPeek Ltd., which promoted himself as a "
jingle" writer for radio and television. He soon became the top jingle composer in Canada, and composed over 2,000 jingles during the 1960s and 1970s for such companies as
Canadian National,
Chargex,
Coca-Cola, the
Labatt Brewing Company,
Speedy Muffler King, and the
Toronto Dominion Bank. McPeek composed works for brass and woodwind quintet, the
Paul Bunyan Suite (1977, recorded by the
Canadian Brass), six piano sonatas, a piano concerto, several works for solo piano, and the orchestral works
Northern 484,
Fantasia, and
Concert Suite. McPeek was also involved in the popular music scene. In 1967, he co-founded the record label
Nimbus 9 along with producer
Jack Richardson and others. The label went on to produce several of
The Guess Who's early albums. That year he also set up the Giant label. He died in
Toronto, aged 46. ==References==