An Interview with Pianist Llewellyn Sánchez-Werner
Pianist Llewellyn Sánchez-Werner. Photo courtesy of the artist.
Richard Wargo: Greetings, Llewellyn! It was an honor to have you at The Sembrich this past summer to open our Masterworks Series on July 1, 2023. As I recall, you joined us at what was the start of a very busy summer season for you. Can you share with The Sembrich community some of what you’ve been up to since July?
Llewellyn Sánchez-Werner: Believe me, the honor was truly mine to join you, Richard, and find solace in the breathtaking surroundings of The Sembrich. Absolutely, I’ve been busy making music! Immediately following my performance with you, I had nine concerts as an Artist-in-Residence at the storied Newport Music Festival. Following a Mozart Concerto with the Rochester Philharmonic, for which I composed my own cadenza, I then performed recitals in Philadelphia, Nantucket, the Hamptons, Scranton, NYU, the MET Museum in NYC, and 12 eclectic concerts in Brooklyn (more on that later). Most recently, I shared the stage with the wonderful violinist Eldbjørg Hemsing in Boston, live for radio and TV. Separately from music, I had the chance to visit a few spectacular museums—both at home in NYC and in the cities to which I traveled. There also might have been a Yankees game in there!
RW: One of the striking aspects of your excellent Sembrich recital was the diversity of repertoire, from Schumann, Haydn and Liszt to Ponce, Chavez and Stravinsky. You mentioned how certain works, in your program introductions, serve as reflections of your own heritage. Can you expound on this further---and take this opportunity, for those who may have missed your performance, to tell us something of your background and how you came to the piano?
Llewellyn Sánchez-Werner. Photo courtesy of the artist.
LSW: Here's a mouthful: I’m of Mexican-Welsh-German-Polish-Jewish heritage. In other words, an American. Since music is my primary way of contributing to society, I’m glad it can help me explore my own roots. Schumann wrote with such tender poeticism, evocative of the German romantic style, while Chávez wrote with the rhythmic complexity and coloristic dynamism that led him to give Norton Lectures at Harvard about Mexican music, and to be commissioned by Bernstein and the NY Philharmonic to compose a symphony for the opening of Lincoln Center. My explorations of cultural diversity are joyously coupled with the vast diversity of the pianistic repertoire—which spans centuries and styles, in addition to continents. Haydn was majestically original and witty, Liszt has more depth and lyricism than he gets credit for, and Stravinsky’s Firebird gave me an opportunity to evoke the full orchestral sonority on the piano. My mother encouraged and nurtured my fascination with the piano as a 2-year-old, and it’s been a meaningful journey ever since.
RW: On the topic of heritage, tell us about your roles as curator and performer of recent Dia de Los Muertos activities.
LSW: For my recent Día de Los Muertos project, I was grateful to be featured by the New York Times, CBS, NY1, Pix11, Mexican publications like Mexico News Daily, and Latin American publications throughout Colombia, Honduras, and Argentina. As the musical curator, narrator, and musical performer (on the piano), I was joined by fantastically skilled colleagues for choreography of dancing skeletons, shadow puppetry, and staging—like an ofrenda, a place of offering to remember departed loved ones. People know the holiday for its diabolique and macabre elements, but we wanted to also feature its family-friendly and vibrantly warm nature. Therefore, the concert featured an eclectic array of Mexican classical and folk music and included dancing skeletons of such luminary Mexican figures as Emiliano Zapata, Cesar Chavez, and Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz. It was a deeply personal project, and I was appreciative to have the support of Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, whose presence in the audience (and our subsequent conversation) moved my heart. New York and Latino communities really show up for one another!
Here’s a link to a NY1 television feature on the project: 'Day of the Dead Live!' Celebrates Mexican Holiday
RW: Another reflection of your Mexican heritage is your exquisite performance of Intermezzo No. 1 by Manuel Ponce which we’re pleased to share with The Sembrich community in this post. Can you tell us a little about Ponce---and what this work means to you?
Llewellyn Sánchez-Werner. Photo courtesy of the artist.
LSW: One of Mexico’s and Latin America’s most pivotal composers in the 20th century, Manuel Ponce was a fascinating figure. He was known for his vibrant, idyllic, and enduring melodicism, as much as for his skillful craftmanship in bridging the classical tradition with Mexican folk and popular music. He received Mexico’s National Prize for Arts and Sciences, taught at the National Conservatory of Music, and was buried in the Rotonda de las Personas Illustres (“Rotunda of Illustrious Persons”) in Mexico City, reserved for politicians, scientists, generals, and artists who made extraordinary contributions to the human values of Mexico. The Intermezzo is known around the world for a reason, and serves as a poignant, lyrical, and deeply heartfelt example of Ponce at his very best.
RW: As we observe Thanksgiving Day, can you tell us what you’re thankful for this year?
LSW: I am thankful to laugh from the belly, to read great books, and to engage in holistic practices like yoga, meditation, and running to stay healthy. I’m thankful that music continues to serve as a vital healing art during times of unimaginable strife and conflict. I’m thankful to meet inspiring people on my travels—including you, Richard, with the immense talent, deeply thoughtful mind, and warmhearted kindness that YOU show others every day. It’s been a pleasure to do this with you. Happy Thanksgiving!
RW: Happy Thanksgiving, Llewellyn! We look forward to seeing you again soon, both at The Sembrich and in the music world at large!
Manuel Ponce: Intermezzo, No. 1 — Performed by Llewellyn Sánchez-Werner
The Sembrich's programs are made possible by the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of the Office of the Governor and the New York State Legislature.
About The Artist
“A gifted virtuoso” (San Francisco Chronicle) with “mesmerizing artistry and extraordinary ability to communicate” (The Post-Standard), “poetic, electrifying” (Michigan Live) with “masterful technique and a veritable deluge of sonorities” (La Presse Montreal), 26-year-old Llewellyn Sánchez-Werner was selected First Prize Winner of the 2022 Concert Artists Guild International Competition. Named a Gilmore Young Artist, an honor awarded to the most promising American pianists of the new generation, his multi-faceted artistry has been featured on NPR, PBS, CNN International, the Wall Street Journal, and WDR-Arte.
Llewellyn’s recent international performances include The Royal Concertgebouw in the Netherlands, CultureSummit Abu Dhabi, the Louvre and Grenoble Museums in France, Smetana Hall in the Czech Republic, State Philharmonic Hall in Slovakia, Verbier Festival in Switzerland, Ashford Castle in Ireland, Gijon International Piano Festival in Spain, and Jack Singer Concert Hall, Musée des Beaux-Arts de Montreal, and Banff Arts Festival in Canada. In the United States, he has frequently concertized at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, Lincoln Center, and National Sawdust in New York, Mary B. Galvin Hall in Chicago, Richardson Auditorium at Princeton University, Paramount Theater in Oakland, and the Kennedy Center, the Smithsonian Art Museum, and Warner Theatre in Washington, D.C.
Llewellyn performed at the Kennedy Center and the White House for President Obama and now-President Biden, for President Peña Nieto of Mexico, Prime Minister Peres of Israel, and President Kagame of Rwanda. Committed to public service, he received the Atlantic Council Young Global Citizen Award recognizing his dedication to social action through music in such countries as Iraq, Rwanda, France, Canada, and the United States. Fellow honorees included Robert De Niro. General Petraeus commended his “courageous humanitarian contributions through the arts…strengthening the ties that unite our nations.”
On UN World Day for Cultural Diversity, he played with the Iraqi National Symphony in Baghdad, raising funds for the Children’s Cancer Hospital, and in Rwanda, he performed for economic leaders and President Kagame as Rwandans continue rebuilding from the Tutsi genocide. He augmented awareness when he was featured on CNN International. In Paris, he performed at the U.S. Embassy for a special event honoring the visit of the U.S. State Department’s Special Envoy to Muslim Communities, Shaarik Zafar, which was attended by an American delegation and local representatives from various religious groups and civil society advocates.
Renée Fleming, Eric Owens, Marina Poplavskaya, Richard O’Neill, and Cynthia Phelps are among the leading artists Llewellyn has collaborated with as an active chamber musician. He was Artist-in-Residence at the Canandaigua LakeMusic Festival, Discovery Artist of the New West Symphony, and served as music director for a production of Aida at City College Arts Academy in New York. He partnered with the Gershwin family on a concert and biographical tribute to the Gershwin brothers, and performed “Hallelujah Junction” for John Adams at his 70th birthday celebration in New York. For a Hilan Warshaw WDR-Arte documentary titled “Wagner’s Jews,” which explores the controversy of performing Wagner in Israel and has been aired around the world, Llewellyn recorded works of Liszt, Wagner, and Tausig.
Since making his concerto debut at age 6, he has performed under the batons of such conductors as Mirga Gražinytė-Tyla, Peter Oundjian, Karina Canellakis, Michael Morgan, Boris Brott, Tito Muñoz, David Lockington, William Noll, Burns Taft, Robert Lawson, and Karim Wasfi. His long relationship with Michael Morgan, with whom he has soloed with 3 orchestras, expanded beyond performing titans of the concerto repertoire when they took on the rarely performed Carlos Chávez piano concerto in a performance that received the Ross McKee Foundation Grant. His adventurous programming also took him to perform Philip Glass’ piano concerto, “After Lewis and Clark,” under the baton of Tito Muñoz.
Llewellyn was awarded a National Foundation for Advancement in the Arts’ YoungArts gold medal in music. Further, he performed Beethoven, Mozart, and Haydn concerti in partnership with the National Academy Orchestra of Canada and the New West Symphony in 16 concerts for 20,000 North American students to excite more youth about classical music. He continued performing with maestro Boris Brott for an additional 6,000 students as part of an anti-bullying campaign.
A California native, Llewellyn began his first college degree at age 5, and at age 6 began performing regularly with orchestras. Principal teachers have included Ilya Itin, Boris Berman, Yoheved Kaplinsky, Robert Durso, composition with Lowell Liebermann, and improvisation with Noam Sivan. He has extensively worked with Robert Levin, Joseph Kalichstein, Wu Han, Gilbert Kalish, Robert McDonald, and the Brentano, Borromeo, and Shanghai Quartets.
Llewellyn holds Bachelor and Master of Music degrees from Juilliard, where he was awarded the Kovner Fellowship, won the concerto competition, and was the youngest admittee to each program at ages 14 and 18, respectively. He received an Artist Diploma from the Yale School of Music, where he was awarded the Charles S. Miller Prize. Llewellyn is a Steinhardt Doctoral Fellow and Adjunct Professor at New York University. He studies with Eduardus Halim.