Ilan Chester (born Ilan Czenstochowski) is a celebrated
Venezuela
Venezuela (; ), officially the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela ( es, link=no, República Bolivariana de Venezuela), is a country on the northern coast of South America, consisting of a continental landmass and many islands and islets in th ...
n musician, singer, songwriter and record producer. Born in Jaffa, Tel Aviv, Israel in 1952, to
Ashkenazi
Ashkenazi Jews ( ; he, יְהוּדֵי אַשְׁכְּנַז, translit=Yehudei Ashkenaz, ; yi, אַשכּנזישע ייִדן, Ashkenazishe Yidn), also known as Ashkenazic Jews or ''Ashkenazim'',, Ashkenazi Hebrew pronunciation: , singu ...
parents, Ilan emigrated to Venezuela in 1953.
Biography
2010 award winning
Latin Grammy
The Latin Grammy Awards are an award 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 anywhere around the world that has been r ...
, 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
Hare Krishna may refer to:
* International Society for Krishna Consciousness
The International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON), known Colloquialism, colloquially as the Hare Krishna movement or Hare Krishnas, is a Gaudiya Vaishnav ...
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), known colloquially as the Hare Krishna movement or Hare Krishnas, is a Gaudiya Vaishnava Hindu religious organization. ISKCON was founded in 1966 in New York City by A. C. Bhaktive ...
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 ( sa, वैष्णवसम्प्रदायः, Vaiṣṇavasampradāyaḥ) is one of the major Hindu denominations along with Shaivism, Shaktism, and Smartism. It is also called Vishnuism since it considers Vishnu as the ...
Bhakti
''Bhakti'' ( sa, भक्ति) literally means "attachment, participation, fondness for, homage, faith, love, devotion, worship, purity".See Monier-Williams, ''Sanskrit Dictionary'', 1899. It was originally used in Hinduism, referring to d ...
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 & 3, he attracted even more international attention with the platinum-selling album "Navideno Heart" and a 6 CD collection where he has sold more than 500.000 units in just few weeks only in Venezuela.
Ilan Chester is recognized everywhere by artist and critics alike as one of the most talented composer and singer in Spanish language. Many of his songs became international hits by Latin stars like Mark Anthony, Cheo Feliciano and Chayenne and he has followers all around the globe.
Discography
Compilation
References
External links
*
DiscographyiTunesAsi Album (2005) at
Amazon.com
Amazon.com, Inc. ( ) is an American multinational technology company focusing on e-commerce, cloud computing, online advertising, digital streaming, and artificial intelligence. It has been referred to as "one of the most influential economi ...
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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