Sergio Tiempo

Sergio Tiempo is regarded as one of the most individual and thought-provoking pianists of his generation. He made his professional debut at the Amsterdam Concertgebouw aged fourteen and soon became internationally renowned for his raw energy and musical versatility, from Brahms to Villa-Lobos and Ginastera.

Born in Caracas, Venezuela, Sergio Tiempo began his piano studies with his mother, Lyl Tiempo. Whilst at the Fondazione per il Pianoforte in Como, Italy, he worked with Dimitri Bashkirov, Fou Tsong, Murray Perahia and Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau. He continues to receive frequent musical guidance and advice from Martha Argerich and Nelson Freire and performs regularly with fellow-countryman and friend Gustavo Dudamel. Recent highlights have included an eight-concert tour across US and Europe with the Los Angeles Philharmonic and Gustavo Dudamel, performing Ginastera’s First Piano Concerto in the composer’s centenary year, a residency with Queensland Symphony Orchestra and his debut with the Boston Symphony Orchestra.

Further orchestral collaborations include the Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France, Brussels Philharmonic, Orquestra Nacional do Porto, Simón Bolívar Orchestra, Singapore Symphony, BBC Symphony, City of Birmingham Symphony, Royal Northern Sinfonia, St Petersburg Symphony, Auckland Philharmonia, Phoenix Symphony, Queensland Symphony Orchestra, Buenos Aires Philharmonic, Zurich Chamber and Stavanger Symphony Orchestras alongside eminent conductors such as Claudio Abbado, Myung Whun Chung, Thierry Fischer, Emmanuel Krivine, Alondra de la Parra, Ludovic Morlot, Alexander Prior and Leonard Slatkin.

A committed recitalist, engagements have included a sell-out recital debut at the Queen Elizabeth Hall in London’s International Piano Series, the Vienna Konzerthaus, the Wigmore Hall, the Berlin Philharmonie and Edinburgh International Festival as well as return visits to the Oslo Chamber Music Festival, Warsaw Chopin Festival, Music Days in Lisbon, and recital tours in China, Korea, Italy, and South America. Sergio Tiempo performed at the Martha Argerich Festival in Lugano each year, with recital partners including the formidable Mischa Maisky, Nelson Freire, and fellow pianist and sister Karin Lechner.

Sergio Tiempo has made a number of highly distinctive and acclaimed recordings. On EMI Classics, he recorded Mussorgsky Pictures at an Exhibition, Ravel Gaspard de la Nuit and three Chopin Nocturnes for 'Martha Argerich Presents', and on Deutsche Gramophon he has recorded several discs with Mischa Maisky, including a disc of Rachmaninov which was awarded five stars by Classic FM and the BBC Music Magazine. Sergio Tiempo and Karin Lechner recorded Tango Rhapsody, a new work for two pianos and orchestra by Argentinean composer Federico Jusid, commissioned especially for the duo and the RSI Lugano. Further recordings with Karin Lechner include a disc of French music Avanti Classic entitled ‘La Belle Epoque’ released on Avanti Classic, a label with who Sergio Tiempo recorded his latest disc, entitled ‘Legacy’, in January 2018, and will also release two separate duo recordings with his musical mentors, Martha Argerich and Nelson Freire.