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Serg van Gennip Although he is a young pianist, the lyrical vocal sound, warmth and breathtaking technique in Serg van Gennip's piano playing have already won many listeners' hearts. Born in Kazan, Russia, in 1985. Serg van Gennip lived in St. Petersburg until the age of five. During this tender age, he always felt a certain attraction to the musical part of life, watching many great artists at work in theatres and concert halls. How can someone be attracted to this art so early? The answer could lie in the genes. Serg van Gennip is a far relative of Sergei Rachmaninov. After having lived in Darmstadt, Germany, for three years, he settled in Delft, the Netherlands. He did not commence serious piano training until the age of nine, when he began having lessons with his mother. In 1995 he entered the Royal Conservatory in the Hague, studying with the russian pedagogue Kamilla Bystrova. Five years later, he pursued studies at the Rotterdam Conservatory with Canadian pianist, pedagogue and author Michael Davidson for three years until his retirement. In 2006, he graduated with an other professor, Aquiles Delle Vigne, a former pupil of Claudio Arrau and Georges Cziffra. He has also followed many masterclasses with Jean-Bernard Pommier, Robert Moeling, Marcel Baudet, Ton Hartsuiker, Kwang-Wu Kim and Boris Berezovsky. Since making his television debut in 1999, winning the televised competition "Solo for a Child", he has performed in many venues throughout the Netherlands and Germany. Among these appearances are his first solo recital in the Hague in 2000 and his first orchestral concert in 2001, performing Bach and Mozart with the State Orchestra "La Primavera" of Tatarstan in Kazan, under the baton of Roustem Abiazov, who was elected as one of the best Russian conductors that season. His German debut, in Freiberg, in 2003 proved to be a huge success, when he returned on stage with a selection of some of his favorite works of Mendelssohn, Balakirev and Chopin. Quite surprisingly, a thing he truly detests are music competitions. Although he has participated in some, he states, "Music will never be a sport in which the creations of us interpreters can be compared". There are, of course, many instrumentalists and composers that had a great impact on his musical life. He really admires the pianistic strengths and personal musical styles of especially three piano heroes of the past: Sergei Rachmaninov, Sviatoslav Richter and Vladimir Horowitz. Horowitz once said that "imitation is a caricature". Although Serg van Gennip is taking his own paths, it must be mentioned that his pianism is often compared with Horowitz's. His wide repertoire ranges from the Baroque up to the Post-Romantism, and he finds it an incredible task to name his favorite composer. He says that Chopin is the composer whose sensitivity and musical taste often resembles his own. But he also finds it a pity that one of the greatest Viennese composers, Franz Schubert, is often being underestimated, and frequently adds his works to his recitals. Serg can't miss the beauty and correct structures of the Baroque and Classicism either, in which Bach and Mozart are his "best friends". Did you know?
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