Venezuelan pianist Sergio Tiempo last performed on the Southbank Centre's prestigious International Piano Series in 2011, proving to be one of the season's most popular recitalists.
On April 29, Tiempo will return to Queen Elizabeth Hall for an eagerly anticipated program that holds great personal meaning for him. He has chosen each work on the varied program to represent a different member of his family.
"I have recently experienced the greatest change in my life: I have become a father!" exclaims Tiempo.
"Among the many, many effects it has on my life, it makes me realize anew that my family relationships ARE me. I am these relationships. And as I see myself in the eyes of my baby, I can't help thinking about the way in which this strongest of relationships gives meaning."
Tiempo began thinking about these important relationships in musical terms as he developed his concert program.
"I allowed myself to dream up a slightly Freudian program in which I let the personalities of those closest to me evoke a certain piece of music," he reveals. "Brahms for my sister, Beethoven for my mother, Prokofiev for my niece, Villa Lobos for my baby girl, Ginastera for her mother, Piazzolla for my father, Debussy for me."
Tiempo also felt it was important to honor his musical family on the program. "The audience is my other symbolic family member, whom I have been in contact with since I was three years old," he says. "Therefore I have asked the audience to choose six etudes for me by Chopin, one of the most influential composers in my formative life."
Tiempo has posted his live performances of 12 of the Chopin etudes on Southbank Centre's Soundcloud page.
Vote for your favorites HERE.
Tiempo will play the top six Etudes chosen by his fans on his April 29 performance at Queen Elizabeth Hall.
Other works in his musical family portrait include Brahms's Intermezzo in B minor, Beethoven's Appassionata sonata, Debussy's Reflets dans l'eau from Images, four pieces from Prokofiev's Romeo and Juliet, four Villa-Lobos works, Piazzolla's Fuga y Misterio, and Ginastera's Malambo, Op. 7 for piano.
This performance in London will mark the fourth continent where Tiempo has performed in recent months. He recently toured China, Australia and New Zealand as well as Latin America, where he is something of a superstar.
Some of his videos on YouTube have reached 750,000 views, especially his Chopin performances. Here's a video of Tiempo playing two Chopin etudes at the same time, in his own arrangement--Opus 25 No. 6 in the right hand, Opus 10 No. 12 in the left.
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