Walter Ostanek

A figure of lasting prominence in polka circles, Walter Ostanek carries the well-earned designation Canada's Polka King. Across more than four decades as a working musician, he has issued in excess of fifty recordings, captured multiple Grammy Awards, and received further nominations. Lifetime achievement recognition has placed him in both the National Cleveland-Style Polka Hall of Fame and the International Polka Hall of Fame.

Born Ladislav John Ostanek in Dupuquet, Quebec, during spring 1935, he grew up with parents who had emigrated from Yugoslavia. The family relocated to St. Catharines, Ontario, around the time he entered school. Drawn to music from an early age, he took up the button diatonic accordion at nine, later switching to the piano accordion before reaching his teens and quickly demonstrating strong command of the instrument.

At sixteen he assembled his first group, which secured modest engagements mixing country and western polkas. After two additional years of refinement, he began regular appearances on the radio program "Abbie Andrews & his Canadian Ranch Boys," performing several times each week until roughly 1956, when he organized the Walter Ostanek Band.

His initial album, Gay Continental Dance Party, appeared in 1963. A long-running radio program followed, together with television series such as It's Polka Time and Polka Party. During the 1970s and 1980s he toured Austria and Italy while continuing to record, and he also performed on shows including the Phil Donohue Show, Lawrence Welk, and the Johnny Carson Show, collecting additional awards and gold records along the way.

Further albums emerged through the 1990s, among them Yearning for Polkas and Waltzes, Accordionally Yours, Instrumental Button Box Classics with Canada's Polka King, On Our Way for More Non-Stop Dancing, Music and Friends, Continental Dance Party With Walter Ostanek & Band, Memories Polkas and Waltzes, Just for You, and As Time Goes By.