Following a sold-out European tour which included a capacity crowd at London’s Union Chapel, RIOPY – the self-taught Franco-British pianist/composer with over half a billion streams to his name and an album which has been at the top of the US Billboard charts for nearly two years – now undertakes his first UK tour. The 10-date UK tour kicks starts in London at Cadogan Hall on the 1st February and culminates in Southampton on Sunday 12th February.Tickets go on general sale on Friday 7th October and are available HERE.
The full list of live dates are (with support from Adam Naas):
FEBRUARY 2023
Wed 1 LONDON Cadogan Hall
Thu 2 BRISTOL St Georges
Fri 3 MANCHESTER Stoller Hall
Sat 4 GATESHEAD Sage
Sun 5 LEEDS Howard Assembly Room
Wed 8 EDINBURGH Queens Hall
Thu 9 BURY ST EDMUNDS Apex
Fri 10 COVENTRY Warwick Arts Centre
Sat 11 CANTERBURY Gulbenkian
Sun 12 SOUTHAMPTON Turner Sims Concert Hall
Born in rural France, his mother left home with him when he was six months old, eventually joining a cult, where family ties were discouraged – and obedience to the head guru was paramount. Deprived of any outside culture, young Jean-Philippe taught himself to play on an abandoned piano when he was two, making up songs in his head, then performing them. RIOPY was drawn to the piano as it allowed him to focus on creating music from scratch, quiet his mind from his OCD anxieties and to retreat into his own private world. “I understood tones, sounds and numbers, because I’d always been counting,” he says. “Playing piano was the only place I felt safe. I discovered something new every time I sat down at the piano. It was the only thing I enjoyed doing. And even if I wasn’t at the piano, I’d play music in my head to cope with stress.”
He left for the UK in his twenties and his fortunes changed when he was given a Steinway piano by Coldplay’s Chris Martin. He has since channelled his troubled past into his music, which serves as a source for positivity, mindfulness and solace to millions around the world.
With three Warner Classics albums RIOPY, Tree of Light and (extended) Bliss already finding a worldwide audience of more than half a billion, a new album is expected early next year. Tree of Light also recently hit a landmark 100 consecutive weeks on Billboard Classical Chart in the US.
RIOPY is also noted for creating powerful and expressive music for brands (IKEA, Mercedes, Peugeot, Armani and Samsung) and film trailers (The Danish Girl, My Turner, The Shape of Water and The Sense of an Ending), as well as documentaries for the BBC, ITV and Channel 4.
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