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Jon Kimura Parker, Piano
BIOGRAPHY
 Internationally
acclaimed concert pianist Jon Kimura Parker was
born, raised and educated in Vancouver. His extraordinary career has
taken him from Carnegie Hall and the Sydney Opera House to Baffin
Island and Zimbabwe. A true Canadian ambassador of music, Mr.
Parker has given two command performances for Queen Elizabeth II,
special performances for the United States Supreme Court, and has
performed for the Prime Ministers of Canada and Japan.
In the past two seasons, Jon Kimura Parker has performed as
guest soloist with the New York Philharmonic, The Philadelphia
Orchestra, the Los Angeles Philharmonic, the Baltimore Symphony,
the Columbus Symphony, the Dallas Symphony, the Florida
Orchestra, the Houston Symphony, the Minnesota Orchestra and the
NHK Orchestra in Tokyo, as well every major orchestra in Canada.
As a member of the outreach project “Piano Six,” Mr. Parker
toured remote areas including the Canadian Arctic, performing
music ranging from Beethoven to Alanis Morissette on everything
from upright pianos to electronic keyboards. He has also jammed
with Doc Severinsen in Calgary and Bobby McFerrin in Philadelphia
and Baltimore. Recent summer festival appearances have included
Britt, Green Music, Vail, the Hollywood Bowl, Orcas Island, San
Diego’s Mainly Mozart, Seattle, La Jolla, Sun Valley, and Santa Fe
with Pinchas Zukerman and Lynn Harrell. Jon Kimura Parker also
collaborates regularly with the Tokyo Quartet.
An active media personality, Mr. Parker has hosted two seasons
of the classical music television series “Whole Notes,” on Bravo!
Canada. He also hosted CBC Radio Two’s five-part series “Up And
Coming,” which showcases the talents of promising young musicians
across Canada. He has played himself in a guest appearance on the Disney Channel’s “Under the Umbrella Tree”. Mr. Parker was also seen
on CNN performing in war-torn Sarajevo and has been documented
frequently on CBC, as well as on PBS’s “The Visionaries.”
Jon Kimura Parker is Professor of Piano at The Shepherd School
of Music at Rice University in Houston, and is Artistic Advisor
of the Orcas Island Chamber Music Festival. He is an Officer of
The Order of Canada, his country’s highest civilian honor.
“Jackie” Parker received all of his early education in Canada,
training with his uncle, Edward Parker, with daily coaching from his
mother Keiko Parker. He also studied with Robin Wood, which led
to four years of advanced study with Lee Kum-Sing at the Vancouver
Academy of Music and UBC. He was a regular student of Marek
Jablonski at The Banff Centre, and in 1979 was admitted to The
Juilliard School on full scholarship as a student of the renowned
pedagogue Adele Marcus.
Mr. Parker has recorded for Telarc with Yoel Levi, Andre Previn
and Peter Schickele. He lives in Houston with his wife, violinist
Aloysia Friedmann and their daughter Sophie.
For further information, please see
www.kimura.com and
www.oicmf.org. |
