Sergio Díaz De Rojas has had music in his blood since he was born. Raised in a family of musicians, the Peruvian composer took inspiration from his grandfather and his grandfather’s sister, both accomplished pianists and composers. It was the latter relative —his great aunt Elsa— who first taught Sergio classical piano and became the guiding force in his musical development, introducing him to Bach and Chopin when he was 11.
Several years later, tragedy struck the family. Sergio was bewildered when his grandfather, a musical genius who played for diverse orchestras and bands in Peru, took his own life. “I remember that my mom tried to hide the truth from me, but he was a public figure so the news was everywhere and I eventually found out,” he recalls. “Naturally, I was sad to lose my grandpa, but I think I was too young to understand what it truly meant to lose someone you love in such a tragic and unexpected way”. Though fifteen years have elapsed, Sergio found himself meditating on that formative loss as he composed his second full-length album, Muerte en una tarde de verano. A drifting song cycle of spare, contemplative piano, Muerte en una tarde de verano (or Death in a Summer’s Afternoon) is suffused in melancholy but resists giving into despair.
Several years later, tragedy struck the family. Sergio was bewildered when his grandfather, a musical genius who played for diverse orchestras and bands in Peru, took his own life. “I remember that my mom tried to hide the truth from me, but he was a public figure so the news was everywhere and I eventually found out,” he recalls. “Naturally, I was sad to lose my grandpa, but I think I was too young to understand what it truly meant to lose someone you love in such a tragic and unexpected way”. Though fifteen years have elapsed, Sergio found himself meditating on that formative loss as he composed his second full-length album, Muerte en una tarde de verano. A drifting song cycle of spare, contemplative piano, Muerte en una tarde de verano (or Death in a Summer’s Afternoon) is suffused in melancholy but resists giving into despair.
