Jon Kimura Parker

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", now in its new version, Piano Plus, 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.

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. For further information, please see www.kimura.com and www.oicmf.org.