Ilan Chester (born Ilan Czenstochowski) is a

Venezuela Venezuela, officially the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, is a country on the northern coast of South America, consisting of a continental landmass and many Federal Dependencies of Venezuela, islands and islets in the Caribbean Sea. It com ...

n musician, singer, songwriter, and record producer. Born in Jaffa, Tel Aviv, Israel in 1952, to

Ashkenazi Ashkenazi Jews ( ; also known as Ashkenazic Jews or Ashkenazim) form a distinct subgroup of the Jewish diaspora, that Ethnogenesis, emerged in the Holy Roman Empire around the end of the first millennium Common era, CE. They traditionally spe ...

parents, Ilan emigrated to Venezuela in 1953.

Biography

2010 award winning

Latin Grammy The Latin Grammy Awards (stylized as Latin GRAMMYs) are awards presented by the Latin Recording Academy to recognize outstanding achievement in the Latin music industry. The Latin Grammy honors works recorded in Spanish or Portuguese from any ...

, Israeli-born and Venezuelan-raised Ilan Chester is a multi-talented musician, singer and composer with more than 35 music productions who has incorporated a global range of influences into his music. Chester grew up with the Jewish, French and Italian melodies he heard as a child at home and later he was equally enamored with American R&B (Ray Charles, Stevie Wonder) and the British rock movement (Beatles, Yes, Jethro Tull). At the age of 19, in 1971 he first met Hare Krishna devotees and two years later he was initiated and given the spiritual name Havi Das by his spiritual master A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada. Chester has stated on record that '

Krishna consciousness The International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON), commonly known as the Hare Krishna movement, is a religious organization that follows the Gaudiya Vaishnavism, Gaudiya Vaishnava tradition of Hinduism. It was founded on 13 July 1966 ...

is and has always been my true source of inspiration. It is the love found in the hearts of the devotees for Krishna that has motivated me to write songs.' He and his family continue to be active practitioners of the

Vaishnava Vaishnavism () ), also called Vishnuism, is one of the major Hindu traditions, that considers Vishnu as the sole supreme being leading all other Hindu deities, that is, '' Mahavishnu''. It is one of the major Hindu denominations along wit ...

Bhakti ''Bhakti'' (; Pali: ''bhatti'') is a term common in Indian religions which means attachment, fondness for, devotion to, trust, homage, worship, piety, faith, or love.See Monier-Williams, ''Sanskrit Dictionary'', 1899. In Indian religions, it ...

tradition. His music has grown to include elements of Classical Music, Jazz, Afro-Caribbean, and Venezuelan Folk music. A former member of rock and pop bands like "Trams", "Way" and "Melao", Ilan has also recorded four productions for the English speaking market. Chester became famous as an exceptional artist in Venezuela and all over Latin America since launching his solo career in 1983 filling up massive auditoriums and theaters. After a series of memorable albums, including "Amistad", "Solo faltas tu", "ASI", "Songs Books of Venezuelan Love", Vols. 1, 2 and 3, he attracted even more international attention with the platinum-selling album "Corazón Navideño" and a 6 CD collection where he has sold more than 500,000 units in a few weeks in Venezuela alone. Ilan Chester is recognized everywhere by artists and critics alike as one of the most talented composers and singers in the Spanish language. Many of his songs became international hits by Latin stars like Mark Anthony, Cheo Feliciano and Chayanne and he has followers all around the globe.

Discography

Compilation

References

External links

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Discography

iTunesAsi
Album (2005) at

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Chester, Ilan 1952 births Israeli emigrants to Venezuela Israeli people of Polish-Jewish descent Living people People from Jaffa Venezuelan Ashkenazi Jews Converts to Hinduism from Judaism Venezuelan Hindus Venezuelan musicians Venezuelan people of Polish-Jewish descent Latin Grammy Award winners Latin music songwriters Latin Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award winners Venezuelan rock musicians