CD Review: A Veteran Virtuoso Continues to Climb High
New Release! Jon Kimura Parker | Fantasy
CD REVIEW | 11.18.2014 | by John Terauds | Musical Toronto
Many a domestic fantasy at this time of year involves good company around a crackling fireside. The encircling gloom and chill cry out for a fine storyteller to keep the onset of winter at bay.
For some, the storyteller is a favourite video game. For others, a novel, or binge-watching a series on Netflix. But as the northwesterly wind has been getting ever more inhospitable, I’ve found evening solace in the arms – or, more accurately, the hands – of pianist Jon Kimura Parker.
The veteran virtuoso continues to climb high in his ongoing explorations of the toughest-to-scale peaks in the pianistic repertoire. Continue reading
Mendelssohn brings ’em to their feet at chamber fest
Pianist Jon Kimura Parker was part of the magic, with Augustin Hadelich and Efe Baltacigil, at the July 9 chamber music concert.
Sometimes, when music lovers are very lucky, they get a performance like this one: the great Mendelssohn D Minor Piano Trio in a reading to take the breath away.
Augustin Hadelich (violin), Efe Baltacigil (cello), and pianist Jon Kimura Parker played the trio in a manner that literally gave the listeners nothing further to wish for. Warmly soulful, incredibly speedy, consistently inventive, and artful in every line, the Mendelssohn was so refined and nuanced that it made other versions seem somehow crude.
The first movement was taken at a speed possible only for a pianist like Parker, whose perfectly even arpeggios set the tone for the white-hot performance. Continue reading
Guests Jon Kimura Parker and Eiji Oue add grace and flash to Minnesota Orchestra’s Tchaikovsky
REVIEW | 12.15.2013 | by Rob Hubbard | St. Paul Pioneer Press
Jon Kimura Parker and Eiji Oue – photo credit Courtney Perry
Flamboyance is Eiji Oue’s calling card. If there’s one thing the former Minnesota Orchestra music director learned from his mentor, Leonard Bernstein, it’s to give the audience an exciting presence on the podium. His gestures are big, his body language invariably colorful.
Since his departure in 2003, the Minnesota Orchestra has gone on to become one of the world’s most acclaimed orchestras, this week earning its third “Best Orchestral Performance” Grammy nomination in seven years and its second consecutive. It bears remembering that many of the standout musicians in the orchestra were hired during Oue’s tenure. Alas, its musicians have been locked out for 14 months in a contract dispute and are now hanging out their own shingle by producing a concert series. Continue reading
Tchaikovsky program a holiday gift from Minnesota Orchestra musicians
Jon Kimura Parker takes a bow at the Minneapolis Convention Center – photo credit Courtney Perry
In his first local concerts in a decade, former Minnesota Orchestra director Eiji Oue led the locked-out musicians and employed his vitality to deliver a dose of Christmas cheer.
In the good old days, before “locked-out” was routinely prefixed to “musicians of the Minnesota Orchestra,” that ensemble was central to the Twin Cities’ celebration of the winter holidays. During Eiji Oue’s tenure as music director (1995-2002), a typical December in Orchestra Hall boasted performances of “Messiah” and Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony — the latter a Japanese holiday custom, imported by the conductor — not to mention, on the pops side, Doc Severinsen’s cheery seasonal cocktail. Continue reading
It’s here and on iTunes! Jon Kimura Parker | Rite
Now available on iTunes, CD Baby, and at concert venues!
Jon Kimura Parker celebrates the centenary of Stravinsky’s The Rite of Spring, and the tragic story of Petrouchka, with his own blazing new transcriptions
To download on iTunes: enter “Jon Kimura Parker Rite” in search window, or click here to purchase on CD Baby!
New York, NY – April 9, 2013 – On April 9, 2013, pianist Jon Kimura Parker will release a recording of his fierce new transcription of The Rite of Spring – in time for the work’s centenary in May – coupled with his transcription of Stravinsky’s Petrouchka on his first new solo album in a decade.
The Vancouver Sun – Lessons Learned: Pianist Jon Kimura Parker Always Up For a Challenge
Jon Kimura Parker may be an internationally acclaimed concert pianist, but that doesn’t mean he’s above rocking out to Rush or humming a little Taylor Swift. In this week’s Lessons Learned, Parker, whose current projects include working on a solo transcription of Stravinsky’s Rite of Spring, talks about the two pianists who changed his life, his biggest challenge and his new-found appreciation of NFL football. Continue reading
International Musician | Cover Story | Jon Kimura Parker Travels the World Bringing Piano Concertos to Life
Jon Kimura Parker | International Musician cover story
Jon Kimura Parker
By Cherie Yurco As a concert pianist, Jon Kimura Parker of Local 145 (Vancouver, BC) travels to a different venue most every weekend, giving 60 or 70 concerts each year. He’s also professor of piano for Shepherd School of Music at Rice University, Houston. We caught up with him when he was “commuting” between Houston and China for performances of Beethoven’s Piano Concertos No. 3 and No. 4. “This is a very exciting tour; I’m playing as a soloist with the three most important orchestras in China—China Philharmonic in Beijing, Shanghai Symphony Orchestra, and Guangzhou Symphony,” he says explaining why he just couldn’t pass up the opportunity, despite the fact that he was in mid-semester and preparing for a student concert in early December. So, he’s flying back and forth for weekend concerts on the other side of the world. Continue reading
Oregon Symphony review: Collaboration with pianist Jon Kimura Parker well worth checking out
REVIEW | 9.23.2012 | by James McQuillen | The Oregonian
Pianist Jon Kimura Parker brough power, drama and bright energy to Mozart’s Piano Concerto No. 20 over the weekend. Photo credit: Maurice J. Beznos
The Oregon Symphony had pianist Jon Kimura Parker back in town to help kick off its subscription season over the weekend, and while Carlos Kalmar and the orchestra played gracious host to their guest while he was at the keyboard, they reserved a fair bit of the evening’s limelight for themselves. A favorite of Portland audiences and a genial presence on stage, Parker offered a crystalline performance of Mozart’s Piano Concerto No. 20, with power and drama suited to the music’s minor mood and frequent… Continue reading
jon kimura parker tackles 10 questions
FEATURE | 9.19.2012 | by Brian Horay | the classical beaver
Jon Kimura Parker by Tara McMullen
this saturday, sunday, and monday, keyboard megastar jon kimura parker sits in with the oregon symphony to help officially open their 2012/13 classical season. p-town is lucky to host him, and the beavs is lucky to have him tackle 10 questions for the blog. let’s get to it, shall we? you’re scheduled to perform mozart’s piano concerto #20 with the band ~ how would you describe this music? Mozart 20 is the “Bad Boy” of Mozart piano concertos. If you have a vague notion of Mozart being polite, this masterpiece of drama, darkness, and dissonance will convince you otherwise.… Continue reading
Scorching Bartok opened Seattle chamber music-fest
REVIEW | 7.03.2012 | by Melinda Bargreen | The Seattle Times
James Ehnes (formal) and Jon Kimura Parker (casual) by Maurice J. Beznos
Outside the Nordstrom Recital Hall, it was cold and rainy. Inside the hall, it was smoking hot — especially when James Ehnes and Jon Kimura Parker took the stage to play Bartok in this opening program of the 31st Seattle Chamber Music Society’s Summer Festival. The festival, which annually opens the week of the Fourth of July, is always a reliable source of fireworks (of the musical variety), but Monday evening’s opener was even more incendiary than usual. Ehnes, the festival’s artistic director, and Parker, artistic adviser of the Orcas Island Chamber Music Festival, are an ideal… Continue reading
