Then Is Now: Rhapsody in Blue
SOLOIST · PIANO
Jon Kimura Parker
Order of Canada
Officer Major Orchestra Performances
Los Angeles Philharmonic, Philadelphia Orchestra, Chicago Symphony & many more Rice University
Professor of Piano ABOUT
Pianist Jon Kimura Parker is known for his charisma, infectious enthusiasm, and dynamic performances that communicate the joy of musical expression. A veteran of the international concert stage, he has performed in the Berlin Philharmonie, Carnegie Hall, London’s South Bank, the Sydney Opera House, and the Beijing Concert Hall. He is Creative Partner for the Minnesota Orchestra’s Summer at Orchestra Hall, serves as the Artistic Director for the Honens International Piano Competition and Artistic Advisor for the Orcas Island Chamber Music Festival, and chairs the keyboard faculty of the Shepherd School of Music at Rice University.
In recent concert seasons, Jon Kimura Parker has been conducted by Karina Canellakis, Karen Kamensek, Mei-Ann Chen, Stephanie Childress, and Lina Gonzalez-Granados. A collaborator in a wide variety of styles, Jon Kimura Parker has performed with Yo-Yo Ma, Cho-Liang Lin, Frederica von Stade, Susan Graham and Lynn Harrell, and also with Doc Severinsen, Audra McDonald, Bobby McFerrin, Shayne Koyczan, and Dessa. He has toured as a founding member of the Montrose Trio, and in Off the Score with legendary Police drummer Stewart Copeland, featuring his own arrangements of music by Prokofiev, Ravel and Stravinsky.
Highlights of the 2025-26 season include performances with Chamber Music International, Chamber Music Tulsa, the Fort Wayne Philharmonic, Fresno Philharmonic, Meany Center for the Performing Arts, Pro Musica, the Richardson Symphony, the Royal Conservatory of Music, and Willamette University’s Grace Goudy Distinguished Artists Series.
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Jon Kimura 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. After winning the Gold Medal at the 1984 Leeds International Piano Competition, Parker has gone on to become an Officer of the Order of Canada and to receive Honorary Doctorates from the University of British Columbia and the Royal Conservatory of Music, Toronto.
Known to friends as “Jackie,” Parker is married to violinist/violist Aloysia Friedmann, and their daughter Sophie is an artist.
For further information, please visit www.jonkimuraparker.com.
PRESS & REVIEWS
What the critics say
“Mr. Parker was an insightful, energetic soloist…the audience roared in approval.”
— The New York Times
“absolutely top-notch music-making, as fine as one could ever expect to hear”
— The Washington Post
“Parker…knocked everyone's socks off with a powerhouse recital of jaw-dropping intensity and finesse.”
— The Seattle Times
Discography
Recordings
Fantasy
Rite
Saint-Saëns: Carnival of the Animals & Richman: The Bold Umbrellaphant
San Diego Symphony · 2011
VIDEOS
Videos
Concerto Repertoire
Programs & Repertoire
Concerto Repertoire
- Barber Piano Concerto, Op. 38
- Beethoven Piano Concertos Nos. 1–5; Choral Fantasy; Triple Concerto, Op. 56
- Bernstein Symphony No. 2, "The Age of Anxiety"
- Brahms Piano Concertos Nos. 1 & 2
- Gershwin Rhapsody in Blue; Concerto in F; "I Got Rhythm" Variations
- Grieg Piano Concerto in A minor, Op. 16
- Mendelssohn Piano Concerto No. 1 in G minor; Double Concerto for Piano and Violin
- Mozart Piano Concertos Nos. 20 & 21
- Florence Price Piano Concerto in One Movement
- Prokofiev Piano Concerto No. 3
- Rachmaninoff Piano Concertos Nos. 2 & 3; Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini
- Ravel Piano Concerto in G major
- Schumann Piano Concerto in A minor
- Shostakovich Piano Concerto No. 1, Op. 35
- Tchaikovsky Piano Concerto No. 1
Please consult MKI Artists for the complete repertoire.
Recital Program
- Mozart Sonata in D major, K. 311
- Beethoven Piano Sonata No. 23 in F minor, Op. 57, "Appassionata"
- Ravel Jeux d'eau
- Intermission
- Americana!
- Chick Corea Got a Match?
- Alexina Louie Memories in an Ancient Garden
- Harold Arlen (arr. William Hirtz) Wizard of Oz Fantasy
- John Adams China Gates
- Oscar Peterson Blues Etude
On Stage
Featured Projects
Concerto Chat
Pianist
A series of short videos by pianist Jon Kimura Parker featuring interviews, brief demonstrations, and anecdotes about each of the piano concertos in his active repertoire. The videos recount stories such as performing Beethoven's Emperor Concerto in war-torn Sarajevo. Designed to complement orchestra marketing campaigns, the series has been featured on the websites of the Minnesota Orchestra, the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra, and other major orchestras.
Honens Competition
Piano
Jon Kimura Parker serves as Artistic Director of the Honens International Piano Competition, held every three years and considered one of the world's most prestigious events of its kind.
Turning Points: WindSync + Piano
Wind Quintet and Piano
Inspired by the centenary of Rhapsody in Blue, WindSync offers a wind-sextet program connecting George Gershwin and W. A. Mozart — two composers whose experiments pairing piano with winds changed the course of their careers. The program is performed with a guest pianist, most often Jon Kimura Parker.