One of the most sought-after performing pianists today, Jon Kimura Parker performed an unprecedented array of piano concertos in the past few seasons, including Rachmaninoff No. 3, the Rachmaninoff-Paganini Rhapsody, Tchaikovsky No. 1, both Brahms Concertos, Barber, Gershwin, Grieg, and several by Mozart and Beethoven. A true Canadian ambassador of music, Mr. Parker has given command performances for Queen Elizabeth II, the United States Supreme Court, and the Prime Ministers of Canada and Japan. He is an Officer of The Order of Canada, his country's highest civilian honor.

Jon Kimura Parker has performed as guest soloist with major orchestras nationally and internationally, including the New York Philharmonic, Philadelphia Orchestra, London Symphony, Deutsches Symphonie, Warsaw Philharmonic, and NHK Tokyo Orchestra. Conductors he has recently worked with include David Afkham, James DePreist, Pablo Heras-Cassado, Jeffrey Kahane, Carlos Kalmar, Jahja Ling, Andrew Litton, Larry Rachleff, Arild Remmereit and Pinchas Zukerman.

He performs as duo partner regularly with James Ehnes, Lynn Harrell, and Cho-Liang Lin, with whom he has given world premieres of sonatas by Paul Schoenfield and John Harbison. An unusually versatile artist, Mr. Parker has also jammed with Audra McDonald, Bobby McFerrin and Doc Severinsen. As a member of the outreach project Piano Plus, Mr. Parker toured remote areas including the Canadian Arctic, performing classical music and rock 'n' roll on everything from upright pianos to electronic keyboards. In commemoration of his special performance in war-torn Sarajevo in 1995, he was a featured speaker alongside humanitarians Elie Wiesel and Paul Rusesabagina at the 50th Anniversary of AmeriCares.

An active media personality, Mr. Parker hosted the television series Whole Notes on Bravo! Canada, and CBC Radio Two's Up and Coming. His YouTube channel features the Concerto Chat videos, in which he discusses piano concerto repertoire.

Last summer Mr. Parker was featured at the Seattle Chamber Music Festival, Santa Fe Chamber Music Festival, Sun Valley Summer Symphony, La Jolla Summerfest, and gave the world premiere of Jake Heggie’s Orcas Island Ferry at the Orcas Island Chamber Music Festival, where he is Artistic Advisor.

Highlights of this season include performances with the major orchestras of Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou, a tour of the US with Bramwell Tovey and the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra, an appearance with Peter Oundjian and the Royal Scottish National Orchestra, and numerous orchestral appearances across the US and Canada. He is honored to appear with the Tokyo Quartet in their farewell season, and also performs a special recital program “Doing Rite by Stravinsky,” featuring his own transcription of Rite of Spring to celebrate that work’s centennial.

A committed educator, Jon Kimura Parker is Professor of Piano at the Shepherd School of Music at Rice University. He has lectured at the Juilliard School, the Steans Institute, New York University, and Yale University. Mr. Parker frequently brings music to public schools in informal concert presentations. His students have won international piano competitions, performed with major orchestras across the U.S., and given recitals in Amsterdam, Beijing, and Moscow.

“Jackie” Parker studied with Edward Parker and Keiko Parker privately, Lee Kum-Sing at the Vancouver Academy of Music and the University of British Columbia, Marek Jablonski at the Banff Centre, and Adele Marcus at The Juilliard School. He won the Gold Medal at the 1984 Leeds International Piano Competition.

Mr. Parker has recorded for Telarc with Yoel Levi, Andre Previn and Peter Schickele. He was born, raised and educated in Vancouver. He lives in Houston with his wife, violinist Aloysia Friedmann and their daughter Sophie. For further information, please see www.jonkimuraparker.com and www.oicmf.org.

Last updated October 2012. Contact Opus 3 Artists for the most up-to-date version.