Carlos Hernan Gonzalez "The Angel of the piano"

 

 

 

 

Called “The Angel of the Piano” in Peru, his country of origin, Carlos Hernan Gonzalez is a composer and pianist whose music has been influenced by many different musical and other cultural forces. He discovered the piano while listening to his grandmother play, and it remains at the core of his musical life.

 

 

A musician with multiple roots

Carlos Hernan Gonzalez is a composer and performer with multiple roots. Born in Peru, he learnt to play the piano in Lima, studied and worked in the music industry in the United States and returned to his country to specialise in piano performance with a Russian teacher before going to live in France.

He acknowledges the importance of piano technique but gives priority to interpretation of the piece. In Carlos' words: "It is through the interpretation - what the pianist contributes to the music to bring it to life - that the personality of the musician comes across. The technical aspects are meant above all to serve the imagination."

 

 

The quest for a music that is universal

His music often consists of short pieces - three to five minutes. It is as if the concentration encouraged a fleeting grace that cannot quite be grasped. He has been called the Peruvian icon of  XXIst century classical music, in the sense that he combines traditions going back to Bach and Mozart and forward to Erik Satie with modern rock as represented by Cocteau Twins, Radiohead and Jacno.

 

 

An Artist Impossible to Label

For Carlos Hernan Gonzalez, as one of his pieces “Ci ritroveremo nel cuore” (We will meet in our hearts) suggests, music has something spiritual to it. But it also mirrors our times, as in the piece “Prozac à l’intérieur” (Prozac inside.

 

 

A promising first album

Carlos’ first CD was produced and recorded in Peru by one of singer Susana Baca’s producers. Entitled “ Marina Tremolo” it displays the several facets of a talent that cannot be confined to a single style.

 

 

Performing : a constant re-invention

Carlos Hernan Gonzalez loves to play live. In contrast with a painting or a book, each musical composition is 'recreated' every time it is performed, making it something unique. “A concert is always open to something new, something that I find very exciting. I try to transmit to people this excitement and the joy I feel when expressing myself.”

 

 

Exploration of the future

Carlos Hernan Gonzalez, who nowadays lives in Paris, plans to continue the exploration of his creative possibilities. He envisages collaboration with artists in the visual arts, cinema and theatre as challenges that will enable him to move forward.