Jack Pyl was born in north Ontario in 1955, raised in south Ontario (near Hamilton,) and has lived and worked in Ottawa since the late 1970s. He was educated in Art and Science at Sir John A. MacDonald High School in Hamilton, gradutating in '73, and in Fine Arts at the University of Guelph.
Upon arriving, he has turned increasingly to music, performing in a variety of local groups such as Samba Ottawa, working with local artists such as Dario Domingues and Beth Ferguson, and for many years leading a Drum Circle which originated at the former Stone Angel Coffee House. He has also been involved in dance, co-writing and co-performing in "Border Crossings", a show for the Fringe Festival of Independent Dance in 1993-94, as well as writing and performing original scores for "Problem in Judea", a theatrical production at Trevor John Studios, and "Macbeth" at Sock'n'Buskin Productions at Carleton University. In addition, he has recorded over 30 hours of original music in analog (reel-to-rell) and, since Y2K, 15 original pieces in digital audio. He has worked at Great Canadian Theatre Company at their old location on Gladstone Street as a stagehand, and also helped with renovations and shows at Artscourt, 2 Daly Avenue, both during the 90s.
But he never entirely left visual arts. When not involved in the above activities, he has done magazine illustrations, design projects, commercial serigraphy, and starting in the early 90s, building various types of percussion instruments.
