Keyboardist and composer Parker Shper ​hails from the creative music scene of Montreal and New England. His spontaneous approach to music yields surprises each and every performance. Psychedelic soundscapes, minimalist piano drones, growling synthesizers, and percussive elements form a patchwork of compelling melodies and beats.

​https://soundcloud.com/parkershper

Parker Shper was born into a musical family in 1984 and grew up in Vermont playing piano by ear from a young age. He began classical piano studies at age 6 which he continued for over 20 years. In his teenage years, Parker began to work professionally around New England as a freelance pianist before continuing on to study jazz piano performance and composition at McGill University in Montreal and at the Academy of Music at the University of Gothenburg, Sweden. 

Parker is currently based in Montreal, Quebec where he continues to produce his own music and where he collaborates with such artists as THE BARR BROTHERS,             CIRQUE DU SOLEIL,  DEAD OBIES,  FLORDA WELL,  GROUNDFOOD,    LAND OF TALK,                     LITTLE SCREAM,  ANAIS MITCHELL, GEORGIA ANNE MULDROW,                     ALEXI MURDOCH,  NOMADIC MASSIVE,  THUS OWLS,  LEIF VOLLEBEKK


SELECTED PAST PERFORMANCES 
MONTREAL INTERNATIONAL JAZZ FESTIVAL, Montreal QC
ICELAND AIRWAVES, Reykjavic ICELAND
NEWPORT FOLK FESTIVAL, RI, USA
HOWARD STERN SHOW, Sirius Satellite Network, New York NY 
STUDIO Q w JIAN GHOMESHI @ CBC TORONTO
CMJ MUSIC MARATHON, New York NY
WORLD CAFE LIVE, MAINSTAGE, Philadelphia PA
SOUTH BY SOUTHWEST, Austin TX
RIDEAU HALL, Ottawa ON
LE BOUL NOIR, Paris, FRANCE
EKKO, Utrecht, Holland
HOT CLUB DE JAZZ - Lyon France
DISCOVER JAZZ FESTIVAL, Burlington VT
METROPOLIS, Montreal QC
CALGARY FOLK FESTIVAL, Calgary AB
SMALLS JAZZ CLUB, New York NY 
THE ROCK SHOP, Park Slope, Brooklyn NYC
THE LILY PAD, Cambridge MA
THE IRON HORSE, North-Hampton MA
SIREN FESTIVAL FOR NEW MUSIC, Sweden
THE HOPKINS CENTER at DARTMOUTH COLLEGE, Hanover NH
THEATRE OUTREMONT, Montreal QC
FLYNN THEATRE MAINSTAGE, Burlington VT 
HIGHER GROUND MAINSTAGE, Burlington VT
NEFERTITI JAZZ CLUB, Gothenburg Sweden


SELECTED DISCOGRAPHY
THE BRIGHTNESS - Anais Mitchell - Righteous Babe Records 2007
8 PERCENT - 8 Percent - Self-Released - 2008
LESS IS MORE - Strength In Numbers - Love For All Music 2009
ALL FOR LOVE - Bryan McNamara Quartet - Love For All Music 2009 \
AND ALL THE TIGERS - The Hoof And The Heel - Self-Released 2009 
CONFLUENCE - Strength In Numbers - Love For All Music 2010
INNER CIRCLE - Bryson Barnes - Self Released 2010 
KALMUNITY JAZZ PROJECT - Self Released - 2010
WORTH IT - Sarah MK - Sarah MK Music -2011
LIVE AT NECTARS - Groundfood - Self-Released - 2012 
WORLDS AWAY SOUNDTRACK - James Cameron & Cirque Du Soleil - 2012 
BORROWED TIME - Leif Vollebekk - Outside Music - 2013 
TURNING ROCKS - Thus Owls - Secret City Records 2014
GESAMKUNSTWERK - Dead Obies - Bonsound 2016
CULT FOLLOWING  - Little Scream - Merge Records - 2016
PATRICK WATSON  THE BARR BROTHERS – Live - Secret City Records 2017
BEATRICE DEER - MY ALL TO YOU - 2018


EDUCATIONAL BACKGROUND: 
Classical Piano Studies with Sylvia Parker from 1990 to 2002 
Classical and Technical Piano Studies with Alison Cheroff from 2003 – 2008 

Jazz Piano and Theory Studies with Armen Donelian (New School University, NYC) 

McGill University’s Schulich School of Music, Montreal Quebec. 
Composition/ Jazz Piano Studies with Jan Jarczyck, Jeff Johnston 

Academy Of Music at the University Of Gothenburg, Sweden. 
Piano Performance/Composition 
Composition/Piano Studies with Anders Jormin, Lars Jansson, Peter Burman

                                                                           

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12 PERCENT

THUS:OWLS in holland