Although music has taken him across the world from Toronto to Honolulu to Israel, Whistler has always held a special place in Ian Parker’s heart. That is why he’s eagerly looking forward to Oct. 15, the day he’ll return to perform as part of the Whistler Chamber Music Society’s 2023-24 Concert Series.
Parker will treat audiences to a showcase of four of the classical realm’s greatest minds: Johann Sebastian Bach, Ludwig van Beethoven, Frédéric Chopin and George Gershwin.
“One thing I realized is that my program really features fantasies, and fantasies are a type of music in the classical world that allows a composer to be really quite free-willed as they write,” Parker says. “When you write a sonata, technically, you have to follow a formula. It’s a first theme, which bridges to a second theme, and then there’s a development of those themes.
“Whereas in a fantasy, a composer can basically write what they want. It doesn’t have to follow any kind of formula. It can evolve through very, very different emotional styles and rhythms and tempos.”
For instance, Parker will effectively be commemorating the 100th anniversary of Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue, which he describes as “the unofficial national anthem of the United States.” Toccata in D Major BWV 912 by Bach goes through several movements, from energetic to slightly melancholic. Chopin’s Ballade No. 4 is known as the most sophisticated of his four ballades, lauded by one of Parker’s acquaintances as “music that just knows how to pinch your soul.”
Parker will also play Beethoven’s Piano Sonata No. 14 in its entirety, though the song is most widely known for its first movement and the title Moonlight Sonata.
“Beethoven actually entitled it Quasi una fantasia—a sonata like a fantasy,” explains the West Vancouver-based pianist. “He does not, in fact, write a principal melody, like most sonatas have to have. It’s one of the only pieces that you can’t really sing, but people still want to hear it because it’s the harmonies which are so amazing in that piece. It has this harmonic progression, which just seems to take over the emotional content of your entire being.”
A pianist’s life
Given his upbringing, it’s no surprise that Parker has given his life to music. He grew up in a veritable piano teaching factory in Burnaby, with numerous instruments in the house and two instructors for parents. Parker’s late father, Edward, had up to 90 students a week at one point in time, and he became accustomed to the sounds of pianos at home from 6 a.m. to 11 p.m.
By the age of 16, Parker was travelling abroad for various music recitals and festivals. That journey brought him to the Juilliard School in New York City, where he earned three degrees: a bachelor’s degree, a master’s degree and an artist’s diploma designed to get him from the classroom to the concert hall. The Vancouverite remained in the Big Apple for more than 20 years pursuing career opportunities that, at the turn of the millennium, could scarcely be found anywhere else.
Parker eventually returned to Vancouver to care for his ailing father. Before long, he fell back in love with the West Coast—particularly with Whistler and the snow-sport wonderlands of his youth.
“Whistler has always been an extremely important part of my life,” he says. “I’ve watched how that mountain has completely evolved from the tiniest little hidden town to what it is now.”
In fall 2018, Parker led a piano masterclass with the Vancouver Academy of Music (VAM). The conservatory’s president was so impressed he asked him to sign on as principal conductor of the VAM Symphony Orchestra. Parker did not have much conducting experience at the time, but he wasn’t about to turn down such a rare opportunity.
Twenty years of discovery
Nowadays, the 45-year-old helms eight concerts a year with the VAM at the Orpheum Theatre and Kay Meek Arts Centre. His passion for classical music remains undimmed, in part because of the intricacy demonstrated by the likes of Bach, Beethoven, Chopin and Gershwin.
“Some of this music I’ve been playing for literally 20 years or more, and I still feel as if I’m developing a relationship with it,” Parker says. “No offense to any of the popular music today, but I’ll be honest with you: there’s a reason why it’s so popular. Anybody can learn one of these tunes by hearing it once or twice, and you’ve learned the whole thing. I have to admit, it’s extremely exciting what music is in the pop world today, but it’s not, on a compositional level, that prolific.”
The way Parker sees it, pursuing the classical arts is akin to skiing. You can buy a lift ticket and familiarize yourself with the signature trails of Whistler and Blackcomb, but head out with a local backcountry expert and you’ll find all sorts of terrain you didn’t know existed. Similarly, one can be a concert pianist for decades and still discover fresh avenues in songs that have been savoured for generations.
Those interested in tuning in to what Parker has to offer can drop by the Maury Young Arts Centre. Doors open at 4:30 p.m. on Sunday, Oct. 15, with tickets priced at $25 for adults and $20 for youth under 20 years of age.
Visit whistlerchambermusic.ca to reserve your spot. Tickets will also be available at Arts Whistler, or at the door.
