Internationally acclaimed concert pianist Jon Kimura Parker's extraordinary career has taken him from Carnegie Hall and London's Royal Festival Hall 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. He is an Officer of The Order of Canada, his country's highest civilian honor.
In recent seasons, Jon Kimura Parker has performed as guest soloist with the New York Philharmonic, The Cleveland Orchestra, The Philadelphia Orchestra, the Warsaw Philharmonic, the NHK Tokyo Orchestra, and with major orchestra in Atlanta, Baltimore, Boston, Chicago, Cincinnati, Dallas, Houston, Los Angeles, Minneapolis, Montreal, Phoenix, San Diego, Salt Lake City and Toronto. This season Mr. Parker performed at the Beijing Music Festival, and with the Iceland Symphony, and as concerto soloist with twelve symphony orchestras in North America with conductors including James DePreist, William Eddins, Carlos Kalmar, Jahja Ling, Andrew Litton, and Gerard Schwarz. Jon Kimura Parker has also performed this season in duo recital with James Ehnes, Lynn Harrell, and Cho-Liang Lin. This summer he returns to Minneapolis for opening night of the Minnesota Orchestra’s Sommerfest.
Recent summer orchestral festival appearances have included the Hollywood Bowl, Mainly Mozart, Sun Valley and Vail, as well as chamber music festivals in Amelia Island, La Jolla, Santa Fe, Seattle, Steamboat Springs and Orcas Island. An unusually versatile artist, Mr. Parker has jammed with Doc Severinsen in Calgary and Bobby McFerrin in Philadelphia and Baltimore, and has performed with Audra McDonald and the Mormon Tabernacle Choir. As a member of the outreach project "PianoPlus," Mr. Parker toured remote areas including the Canadian Arctic, performing classical music and rock 'n' roll on everything from upright pianos to electronic keyboards.
An active media personality, Mr. Parker has hosted the classical music television series "Whole Notes," on Bravo! Canada. He also hosted CBC Radio Two's five-part series "Up And Coming," showcasing young musicians. 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 documented on PBS's "The Visionaries." In commemoration of this event, Jon Kimura Parker was a featured speaker and performer alongside humanitarians Elie Wiesel and Paul Rusesabagina at the 50th Anniversary of AmeriCares.
A committed educator, Jon Kimura Parker is Professor of Piano at The Shepherd School of Music at Rice University in Houston. His former student Jade Simmons was named the first New Music/New Places Fellow by New York's Concert Artists Guild. Mr. Parker is also Honorary Co-Chair of the Piano Pedagogy Research Laboratory at the University of Ottawa. He has given master classes and lectures at The Juilliard School, The Steans Institute, New York University, and Yale University. Jon Kimura Parker is also the Artistic Advisor of the Orcas Island Chamber Music Festival.
"Jackie" Parker received all of his early education in Canada, training with his uncle, Edward Parker and his mother, Keiko Parker. He studied with Lee Kum-Sing at the Vancouver Academy of Music and University of British Columbia, Marek Jablonski at The Banff Centre, and with renowned pedagogue Adele Marcus at The Juilliard School, where he received his doctorate. 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 May 2010. Contact Opus 3 Artists for the most up-to-date version.
