MUSICIAN OF THE MONTH: JENNIFER KING
February may be the shortest month of the year, but our February Musician of the Month certainly isn’t short on talent. This month, we are proud to welcome pianist Jennifer King to the site!
Energetic and insightful, Jennifer King is a versatile pianist who is equally at home on the concert stage, and in the classroom. She is also in high demand as an adjudicator, coach, and clinician; she has firmly established herself as a sought-after talent across Atlantic Canada.
Jennifer worked at Acadia University’s School of Music as the staff accompanist, a part-time piano instructor and faculty member from 2003-2016. She currently works as a private piano instructor and coach from her home studio and at the Maritime Conservatory of Music and Performing Arts in Halifax, NS.
Since moving back from England in 2003, Ms. King has performed in hundreds of recitals and concerts at Acadia University and as a free-lance pianist in many of the Maritime region’s concert series. Jennifer can be heard in concert alongside some of Canada’s most respected singers and musicians and as a soloist.
Recently Jennifer performed outside for 6 hours on the Halifax waterfront with artist Holly Carr for Nocturne Art at Night Festival. Jennifer’s first solo piano CD entitled O Mistress Moon is being released as part of the Cecilia Concert Series in January 2018.
Jennifer is a strong believer in community, and reaches out to the next generation of artists, and educators. She was one of the founders of the Prince Edward Island Registered Music Teachers’ Association when she was 24 years old, she is on Provincial Council for NSRMTA where she has also been the Vice President, Registrar, Second Delegate and ran the NSRMTA Provincial Scholarship Competition for 2016 and 2017. She serves on the NSYO board and is a member of Canadian Federation of Adjudicators Association and Atlantic Federation of Musicians. She is married to a veterinarian and has two busy teen-aged children.
1.What is your idea of perfect happiness? Love being outdoors biking, camping, swimming, boogie boarding, hiking, gardening, canoeing and of course I love learning new music. Exploring new places makes me happy.
2. What recording would you take to a desert island? Love the Janecek String Quartet. I love the intricacy.
3. What is something people would be surprised to learn about you? I am pretty much an open book, but I did have a job picking strawberries one summer. So painful! I also was on CBC TV doing an arts and crafts show for kids with my aunt for a whole year as a 6-year-old child. Pretty fun experience. I also was on an ad campaign in 2010. Really weird seeing myself up on billboards and bus shelters with my shoulder erased out. People didn’t recognize me as I had to look sad.
4. Any place in the world you have not yet visited, but would like to? Prague to see the Mozart operas done by marionettes with all the singers in the pit. Ha!
5. What/where is your favourite thing to eat? Dark chocolate – valrona or some of the Swiss artisanal chocolate my brother brings home from Geneva.
6. Which performer (dead or alive) would you most like to share a meal with, and what would you like to eat with them? This is tough but maybe a beer with the young Brahms? I have never really thought about this. Nadia Boulanger – composer and teacher of so many other composers – she fascinates me and sitting and chatting over strong coffee and good dense cake with her at a cafe in Paris would be marvellous.
7. Who or what inspires you? Walking in the woods always helps my inspiration. (Hemlock Ravine is my favourite place that is close to me.) Or, being somewhere with lots of history. I recently went to Portugal and all the castles were really amazing.
8. Do you have a favourite recipe, and would you share it with us? I make Tiffin every year for people at Christmas. It’s a mix of dark chocolate, dried fruit soaked in Brandy, digestive biscuits, orange peel, butter, and Lyle’s golden syrup. It’s a top secret recipe I was given when I lived in England for eight years. The ingredients should give you a little idea about how it’s made.
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- King cites spending time outdoors as being her idea of “perfect happiness”.
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- Spending time with family.
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- King’s upcoming release, O Mistress Moon, is her first solo piano album.
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- King was a founding member of the Prince Edward Island Registered Music Teachers’ Association and maintains an active presence in her community.
You can stay up to date with Jennifer’s work through her website (soon to be running), and hear her speak about music here.