The Minnesota Orchestra has announced Canadian pianist Jon (“Jackie”) Kimura Parker its first-ever Creative Partner for Sommerfest.
Parker will contribute to the Orchestra’s summer festival over the next three summers with Music Director Osmo Vänskä, the Musicians’Artistic Advisory Committee.
The new position seeks to innovate the programming process by bringing varied artistic voices with different perspectives, specialties and influences.
“It’s an exciting model that will allow the Orchestra and its audiences to benefit from creative collaboration with a range of partners who may be performers, conductors or artists from other disciplines,” said President and CEO Michelle Miller Burns. “We are happy to unleash Jackie’s tremendous creative energies in this role.”
Parker first performed at Sommerfest in 1990 for a piano showcase, and has since developed a close relationship with the Minnesota Orchestra since then.
“To now serve in a role where I can contribute to the artistic vision and future of the festival, alongside Osmo Vänskä, musicians and artistic staff, is a dream,” Parker said in a press release statement.
Parker was appointed as Artistic Director of Honens International Piano Competition in January 2018. He serves as a Professor of Piano at The Shepherd School of Music at Rice University and Artistic Advisor of the Orcas Island Chamber Music Festival.
LUDWIG VAN TORONTO
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