Ilan Chester

Ilan Chester was born in 1952 in Tel Aviv

Ilan Chester was born on July 30, 1952, in Tel Aviv as Ilan Czenstochowski, to a Jewish family of Polish descent. In 1953 his father moved the family to Venezuela on a diplomatic assignment. He grew up in Caracas, learned piano young and performed in public as a child.

He started out in the late 1960s with bands in Caracas, among them Los Trams and Way. In the late 1970s he lived in England and recorded 2 English albums with the band Ananta. In 1981 his band Melao opened for Queen in Caracas.

His solo album Canciones de Todos los Días in 1983 made him known across Venezuela. Albums such as Amistad and Un Mundo Mejor followed, mixing pop and rock with Venezuelan folk elements. In 1996 he stopped performing live, then returned 3 years later.

His 6-CD anthology of Venezuelan music from 2009 won a Latin Grammy in 2010. In 2017 he received a Latin Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award. He later also lectured on ancient Indian yoga culture.

In the early 1970s he joined the International Society for Krishna Consciousness and was initiated in 1973. He has 7 children. He was married to Mercedes Mayorca from 2003 until her death in 2018.