Biography

 

 

 

Carlos Hernan Gonzalez was born in Lima, Peru. His father is a dentist and his mother an interior designer. His parents aren’t musicians but the young Carlos was influenced by the legend of one of his grandfather’s cousins who was a famous pianist and composer in Peru : Lorenzo Humberto Sotomayor.

 

 

At 11 years of age while listening to his grandmother play the piano, he felt that music could be his “calling”. It was a kind of revelation. He asked to start taking lessons and, from that moment on, music would be a major part of his life.

At the same time, he continued his primary and secondary studies in a British school in Lima, Newton College, until 1993.

 

 

When he was 15 years old, Carlos began composing. He listened to Latin American Pop music, but with time his interest evolved towards other styles like rock, trip-hop and dream-pop.

 

 

In the mid-90s he studied at the University of Miami School of Music. There he followed orchestration and theory courses and also the principles of the music industry, obtaining a Bachelor of Music degree.

 

 

He was then hired by Sony Music. He worked in the Public Relations department with artists like Ricky Martin, Shakira and Jennifer Lopez. But he also continued to compose. “ I felt a passion for  music but  didn’t really dare to follow that path.” However, little by little, Carlos Hernan realised that music was his life and that he had to pay attention to the voice that encouraged him in this direction.

 

 

In 2001, Carlos Hernan Gonzalez decided to go back to his roots in Peru. It was then that he met the great Russian pianist Marina Pavlovna-Ferreira, who became his teacher. She had developed a very personal piano technique that went beyond the traditional principles. She taught it to Carlos, enabling him to look inside of himself for the secret of playing.“Marina Pavlovna helped me get things out from my inner self and find my real identity”.

 

 

In 2002, Carlos Hernan Gonzalez gave his first recital at the Alliance Française of Lima.

In October of that year, he selected the musical repertoire for a tribute to Victor Hugo and performed it, also at the Alliance Française, under the direction of Ruth Escudero.

 

 

In 2003, for the first time, he gave a recital completely devoted to his own compositions : Music for the Piano .

 

 

In 2004 he recorded his first album, Marina Tremolo, then presented it in recital as Music for the Piano II. The album contained some compositions that revealed a very personal style, among them Marina Tremolo, They Are Crashing, Prozac à l’intérieur, and Ci ritroveremo nel cuore.

 

 

He received kudos for having an original talent that brought something new to contemporary music but stayed close to classical harmonies. The Peruvian music critic Hélène Ramos named him “XXIst Century Classical Music Icon”.

 

 

In 2005, Carlos Hernan Gonzalez gave recitals in several of Lima's key venues : the Cultural Centre of the Catholic University of Peru and the Peruvian-North American Cultural Institute. The Peruvian press hailed the young musician with long black hair who was thence called “The Angel of the Piano.”

 

 

In 2005 he decided to move to France to immerse himself in its cultural life.

 

 

He played his first Parisian recital at L’Entrepôt.

 

 

In 2006 he played new compositions, written after his arrival in Paris, at the

auditorium of the Lycée Jean de La Fontaine. The recital was entitled Paris Love Pop.

 

 

Then in 2007, he gave a series of concerts at the Caveau des Artistes called Music for the Piano III. The programme included several recent compositions.

 

 

In 2008, for the Fête de la Musique, celebrated on the first day of summer, he was invited to play at the Arturo Lopez Cultural Centre (Neuilly-sur-Seine.)

 

 

In 2009 Carlos was invited to Budapest to play a concert “Like An Army of Mini-Moons” where he performed his favourite personal compositions and premiered  two new ones.

 

 

In March 2010 he was the opening act for the multi-disciplinary concert “Variations d’Alexandrins” at the Théâtre Adyar close to the Eiffel Tower.

 

 

In March 2011 he was invited to co-write the music for a contemporary art exhibit in New York City.

 

 

Since April 2011, Carlos has been giving concerts regularly in Paris, where he lives. His shows are a combination of piano pieces and songs accompanied by musical arrangements of his Mac. All the music he performs is composed by him.