Born in New York in 1943,[1] Whitelaw was originally trained as a pianist at liberal arts colleges in Tennessee, Indianapolis, and Chicago.
[2] He was a student of Kenneth Gilbert in Montreal from 1967-1971; during which time he also pursued further music studies at the Conservatoire de musique du Québec and McGill University.
[3] That same year he was a finalist at the ARD International Music Competition in Munich and was awarded the Premier Prix by the Conservatoire de musique du Québec.
[5] While continuing his education in Canada, Whitelaw simultaneously worked as a music faculty member at the University of Ottawa.
[citation needed] He has also played the clavichord, the forte-piano and the piano, in particular accompanying South African soprano Gerda Hartman in, notably, the repertoire of the German Lied.