Jon Kimura Parker - Factoids
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The latest statistics and factoids from kimura.com:
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The farthest north I have ever played: Baffin Island in Northern
Canada. (Look on a map!) The concert is part of a Piano Six tour which
included stops in Iqaluit, Apex and Yellowknife. This beats my previous
northern record of Trondheim, Norway, where I played Beethoven Piano Concerto
#3 in King OlafsHalle in 1989.
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The farthest south I have ever played: Hobart, Tasmania, with the
Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra. On my last trip there, the local zookeeper
let me pet a Tasmanian Devil. Under VERY controlled circumstances. Tassie
Devils have sharp teeth and jaws 20 times the strength of a typical dog's
! (excellent wildlife pictures and Aussie landscapes can be found on the
Tassie Devil
page)
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Most outrageous quote in a Mozart Concerto cadenza: In my last
Australian
tour, in the Mozart K.466 d minor Concerto, I couldn't resist. I finally
put in the X-Files Theme. Most of the orchestra quietly went into hysterics,
and most of the audience had no idea that anything had happened...
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Most bizarre commute of all time: In 1989, during a European concert
tour which included concerts in Belfast, Dublin, and London, I made a 48-hour
detour to play a recital at the Canadian Embassy in Tokyo (It was the only
day that both Prime Ministers could be there. So what's a little jet-lag?)
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Strangest outfit I have worn onstage: This has to be a tie, between
wearing a complete Star Trek: The Next Generation outfit and pointy ears
and proclaiming "Minneapolis - the Final Frontier", to the encore for the
same concert, in which Chris O'Riley, Garrick Ohlsson, Angela Hewitt and
myself put on Viking helmets and blond braids and played a 4-piano arrangement
of Wagner's "Ride of the Valkyries".
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Best scenic detours that I have taken on tour: Between my tour of
Australia and violinist Aloysia Friedmann's tour of Japan with the Orchestra
of St. Luke's, we climbed Mt. Fuji, in October...perfect day, snow everywhere,
and complete solitude on the peak at sunrise.
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Best unexpected view I've had from the plane: In 1996 I flew nonstop
from Hong Kong to Frankfurt, and for 3 hours flew over Tibet. Nonstop Himalayas,
absolutely breathtaking!
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Best selection of concert hall pianos in the world: The last time
I played in Chang-Kai Shek Memorial Concert Hall in Taipei (in 1990 with
the Toronto Symphony), they had over a DOZEN top-quality concert grands,
including Steinways, Bosendorfers and Yamahas.
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Most exciting recent meeting: Courtesy of our mutual record company,
Telarc, I had the chance to talk with my total idol Oscar Peterson, after
a concert in his honour. I am so in awe of this man that I could hardly
speak...
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Most exciting meeting prior to Oscar Peterson: End of March 96,
in Detroit, I showed up backstage to warmup before my recital. There was
this old guy with his back to me sitting at the piano playing a waltz.
I wasn't sure what to do, at which point he turned around, and I found
myself sputtering "Oh, how nice to meet you, Mr. Borge..."!
Photo : Lindsay Lozon
Postcard Design : Eric Gutierrez, ICM Artists, Ltd.
Copyright Jon Kimura Parker 2003