He performs his concerts in a dressing gown and slippers. Hailing from Montreal and currently living in Cologne, Chilly Gonzales is a pianist, composer, entertainer and showman of great dedication and impish humour. His motto can be summed up by the quote: “Why does one need to decide whether to be an entertainer or an artist. I want both!” After studying jazz piano in his Canadian homeland, Chilly Gonzales did a bit of everything, finding radical ways to pit art and anti-art against one another. He worked with a wide range of artists such as Feist, Peaches, Jamie Lidell and Helge Schneider, adapted a Hans Christian Andersen fairy tale into a musical shadow play, and made fun of the rigid rules of the classical music world with his piece Never Stop. He holds the Guinness World Record for the longest solo concert at over 27 hours. He was awarded a GRAMMY in 2014. In 2017, he released a concept album entitled Room 29 in collaboration with Jarvis Cocker, former singer of the British pop band PULP. In September 2018, his album Solo Piano III was released and the documentary Shut Up and Play the Piano by director Philipp Jedike was shown in cinemas. In the past year, he has released both an album entitled A Very Chilly Christmas and a book about the Irish musician Enya. An artist so gifted at treading the borderline between classical and jazz while drawing inspiration from pop, electronic music and a rapper’s mentality, is perfect for the KUNSTFEST WEIMAR’s interdisciplinary lineup. His programme will include various medleys of intimate pieces from his solo piano trilogy, as well as hits from his repertoire and new compositions.
Piano — Chilly Gonzales
