ARTIST PROFILE

Jon Kimura Parker

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.