{"id":39394,"date":"2016-10-21T14:31:29","date_gmt":"2016-10-21T18:31:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/?p=39394"},"modified":"2017-04-08T13:20:31","modified_gmt":"2017-04-08T17:20:31","slug":"qa-jon-kimura-parker","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/2016\/10\/21\/qa-jon-kimura-parker\/","title":{"rendered":"Q&A | 18 Questions For Jon Kimura Parker"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Jon
Jon Kimura Parker (Photo: Tara McMullen)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Every so often MT poses 60 questions to a local or visiting artist in Toronto who has made our classical music community that much more interesting. They pick and choose. The minimum response is 20 answers. A kind of Rorschach personality test, if you will.<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

Jon Kimura Parker<\/a> is one of Canada’s most cherished ambassadors of music. With a seemingly endless supply of enthusiasm for both Classical and Jazz, he has performed all over the world as both a respected soloist and competent chamber musician.<\/p>\n

\n

What are three things that Toronto doesn\u2019t have but should?<\/span><\/h3>\n

A backstage bar for the musicians! All the London halls have them. (Otherwise, I don\u2019t know the city well enough to know\u2026)<\/span><\/p>\n

Default drink\/cocktail of choice?\u00a0<\/span><\/h3>\n

Bombay Sapphire martini, with a twist. Or any first growth Bordeaux from a good vintage.<\/span><\/p>\n

Your role models?<\/span><\/h3>\n

Oscar Peterson. (Because of his joy, and endless pursuit of the highest standard.)<\/span><\/p>\n

Steve Jobs. (Because his ethos and his creations have actually changed my life.)<\/span><\/p>\n

Your favourite sound?<\/span><\/h3>\n

The first big \u2018E\u2019 chord in Pink Floyd \u201cDark Side of the Moon”.<\/span><\/p>\n

Your least favourite sound?<\/span><\/h3>\n

Whatever alarm I\u2019ve set on my iPhone to wake me up. I have to change it frequently so that I won\u2019t work the familiar one into my dreams and then ignore it.<\/span><\/p>\n

The historical personalities, both good and bad, that fascinate you the most?\u00a0<\/span><\/h3>\n

I\u2019ve developed a strange interest in Alexander Hamilton, although I\u2019m guessing he didn\u2019t actually rap.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

If you could board a plane this afternoon, where would it be taking you?<\/span><\/h3>\n

Singapore. But I only say that because my friend Daniel Ching from the Miro Quartet, is boarding a flight to Singapore right now as a United mileage run to get to 1K status (100,000 flying miles in a year) and only plans to be there for 24 hours, to hear a concert and sample the local cuisine. I\u2019m already at 90K on the year but would love to join him!\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Book that you read that made an impact on you in your formative years?<\/span><\/h3>\n

The Wind in the Willows<\/em>.<\/span><\/p>\n

The strangest talent that you possess?<\/span><\/h3>\n

Playing the first page of the Prokofiev Toccata for left hand alone; it’s actually written for both left and right.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The different career path that you could have gone on?<\/span><\/h3>\n

I can\u2019t imagine anything unmusical. I have an endless interest in rock music, so I could see myself playing in a band, but then I\u2019d have to keep my hair really long which seems like a nuisance.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

What is the best thing about your work?<\/span><\/h3>\n

It\u2019s music. Everything is great about my work! Of course, it\u2019s also people, which is why I prefer concertos and chamber music over solo recitals.<\/span><\/p>\n

What is the worst thing about your work?<\/span><\/h3>\n

Worrying about a memory slip.<\/span><\/p>\n

The talent that you wish you possessed?<\/span><\/h3>\n

A consistent golf swing would be nice.<\/span><\/p>\n

What are you listening to as you answer these questions?<\/span><\/h3>\n

Silence.<\/span><\/p>\n

What musical instrument do you secretly long to play?<\/span><\/h3>\n

Banjo.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The thing that makes you the happiest?<\/span><\/h3>\n

Being on Orcas Island with no rehearsals or concerts on the agenda.<\/span><\/p>\n

The thing that makes you the angriest?<\/span><\/h3>\n

Indifference to high standards.<\/span><\/p>\n

Three pieces, songs, or arias that you could listen to on repeat for an hour?<\/span><\/h3>\n

Beethoven \u201cPastoral Symphony\u201d;\u00a0<\/span>Monks chanting \u201cOm\u201d;\u00a0<\/span>Elton John \u201cGood bye Yellow Brick Road”.<\/span><\/p>\n

To read more from our Q&A Series, click HERE<\/a><\/span>.<\/h3>\n

#LUDWIGVAN<\/em><\/strong><\/h3>\n

Want more updates on Toronto-centric classical music news and review\u00a0before anyone else finds out? F<\/em>ollow us on\u00a0<\/em>Facebook<\/a><\/span>\u00a0or Twitter<\/a><\/span> for all the latest.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Renowned Canadian pianist Jon Kimura Parker answers 18 questions, including his the best and worst things about being a musician, his role models, and his default cocktail of choice.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":20,"featured_media":39395,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[5723,29,5009],"tags":[1774,5975],"yst_prominent_words":[6739,6767,6715,7509,7495,7506,7515,7508,7505,7507,7502,6616,7518,7517,7501,6742,7516,7497,7492,6741],"acf":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2016\/10\/Jon-Kimura-Parker-Credit-Tara-McMullen.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p9bakr-afo","amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/39394"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/20"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=39394"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/39394\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":44471,"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/39394\/revisions\/44471"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/39395"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=39394"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=39394"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=39394"},{"taxonomy":"yst_prominent_words","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/yst_prominent_words?post=39394"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}