Jon Kimura Parker
Artistic Advisor
piano, harpsichord
Pianist Jon Kimura Parker is known for his charisma, enthusiasm, and dynamic performances. A veteran of the international concert stage, he has performed regularly in the Berlin Philharmonie, New York’s Carnegie Hall, London’s South Bank Centre, the Sydney Opera
House, and the Beijing Concert Hall. As the Creative Partner of the Minnesota Orchestra’s Summer at Orchestra Hall, he has hosted and given multiple concerto performances with the orchestra since 2021. In addition, he serves as the Artistic Director for the Honens International Piano Competition in Calgary and Artistic Advisor for the Orcas Island Chamber Music Festival.
Dr. Parker is Professor of Piano and the Keyboard Chair at the Shepherd School of Music at Rice University. His students have performed extensively and won prizes in major competitions internationally. In the past two years, they have given concerto performances of Shostakovich, Beethoven, Khachaturian, and Prokofiev in Aspen, San Antonio, Houston, and China, performed at La Jolla Summerfest, have been Young Artists for da Camera Houston and the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, and have made guest appearances with ROCO. Highlights of Dr. Parker’s past two seasons include concerto appearances with the Phoenix, San Antonio, Rhode Island, Kansas City, Sarasota, Vancouver, and Colorado orchestras, recitals at series including Portland Piano International, and performances with Cho-Liang Lin at Chamber Music International in Dallas and with Paul Huang at the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center. He also toured as a member of the Montrose Trio, which he founded with Martin Beaver and Clive Greensmith. Last year, he chaired the jury of the Hilton Head International Piano Competition. In June, he was a teaching artist at the Cliburn Junior International Piano Competition and coached the finalists in their concerto rehearsals.
A collaborator in a wide variety of styles, Dr. Parker has performed with Doc Severinsen, Audra McDonald, Bobby McFerrin, Pablo Ziegler, and Sanjaya Malakar. As a founding member of Off The Score, he also performed with Stewart Copeland – the legendary drummer of The Police – for the Orcas Island Chamber Music Festival’s 20th Anniversary Season, featuring his own arrangements of music by Prokofiev, Ravel, and Stravinsky. He has accompanied Frederica von Stade, Susan Graham, and Luca Pisaroni in recital.
Dr. Parker’s discography of a dozen albums features music ranging from Mozart and Chopin to Barber, Stravinsky, and John Adams. His most recent recording, Fantasy, built around Schubert’s Wanderer Fantasy, was described by Musical Toronto as giving “a big, clear picture window of a rich soul and great artistic depth.” His YouTube channel features a series of Concerto Chat videos, which explore the piano concerto repertoire. In addition, his Whole Notes series, featuring performances of great composers, is available on Amazon Prime Video. He is now recording masterclass videos for tonebase on major works of the piano concerto repertoire. His recent tonebase video on the 15th variation of the Rachmaninoff-Paganini Rhapsody has over 300,000 views.
Dr. Parker studied with Edward Parker and Keiko Parker, 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. Winner of the Gold Medal at the 1984 Leeds International Piano Competition, Dr. Parker has also become an Officer of The Order of Canada and has received Honorary Doctorates from the University of British Columbia and the Royal Conservatory of Music, Toronto.
Known to friends new and old as “Jackie,” Dr. Parker is married to violinist and violist Aloysia Friedmann, and their daughter, Sophie, graduated from Rice University in 2021. For further information, visit jonkimuraparker.com, minnesotaorchestra.org, oicmf.org, and honens.com.
Sponsors: Valerie and Bill Anders