The Gryphon Trio will perform at the Matsqui Centennial Auditorium on Friday, November 14, at 7:30 p.m. It will be their third time playing for the Valley Concert Society and the first since 2009.
Jamie Parker is the trio’s outstanding pianist. He is a member of the exceptional Parker family of pianists.
His father John, a pharmacist, was not a musician, but he loved music passionately and was an avid concertgoer. He married Keiko, a pen pal from Japan, who took up piano after she came to Canada. She became a highly-sought-after teacher of theory.
John and Keiko had three children—Jon Kimura who enjoys a stellar career as piano soloist and teaches at Rice University in Houston, Texas; Jamie who teaches at the University of Toronto and plays with the Gryphon Trio; and Liz who also studied piano at a high level and now pursues a creative career in music-related ventures.
All three children studied piano with Uncle Edward, John’s brother, who was a stern but talented teacher. As Liz put it, “We went through the Parker army drill.” Edward met Eileen when she took piano lessons from him. She had fled Mao’s China for Hong Kong and then Vancouver. They married, and their son Ian is the third remarkable Parker who has made a successful career as a solo pianist.
Besides being an award-winning pianist, Jamie is known for a great sense of humour. He describes their trio as “two really patient people and one cellist.”
Coincidentally, CBC’s program This Is My Music featured Jamie Parker on Saturday this past weekend. In the two-hour program, he shared stories and music that has been important to him throughout his life. You can hear the program at the following link.
https://www.cbc.ca/listen/live-radio/1-382-this-is-my-music
Tickets to the Gryphon Trio’s concert are available online at www.valleyconcertsociety.com at $32 for adults and $20 for students.
For more information, call 604-289-3377.
John Wiebe - President
The Valley Concert Society