Sergey Genadyevich Chipenko was born in an industrial city in the Republic of Bashkortostan during the Soviet Union in 1961. Inspired by his father's love for music, Sergey displayed a striking musical talent at a young age. After studying in a school of music for gifted children, he got his higher education at Zagir Ismagilov Ufa State Institute of Arts. There, he stayed on as a professor until he moved to Moscow to perform with world class musicians. He was honored with a medal of honor and became a Merited Artist of the Russian Federation in the year 2002.
Throughout his career, he performed all over Russia and all over the world, with artists such as…
David Sanborn, Phil Perry, Dave Koz, Eric Marienthal, Chuck Loeb, Jeff Lorber, Jimmy Haslip, Will Kennedy, Brian Simpson, Richard Elliot, Mindi Abair, Carlincia Peck, Brandon Fields, Bob McChesney, Joe DiBlasi, Ellis Hall, David Mann, Nicky Richards, John Daversa, Michael Lington, William "Mickey" Stevenson, Raymond Brooks, Jacob Nachman, Lenny Castro, Kamasi Washington, Jeff Caruthers, Joey Heredia, Marcus Mendoza, Gary Levin, Brian Hobbs, Andreas Aleman, Alvin Chea, Peggi Blu, Arnold McCuller, Kevin Winard, Alex Hahn, Eden Perez, David Mann, Igor Fedotov, Oleg Smirnov, Alex Hahn, Yuri Katz, Arten Zhuliev, Slava Khanov, Vlad Senchillo, Vladimir Galaktionov, Polina Zizak, Moise Ouaknine, Katerina Balykbaeva, Igot Dzhavad-Zade, Anthony Crawford, Ernest Tibbs, Genn Nady, Sandra Booker, Lindon Rochell, Gary Levin, Konstantin Babayan, Ruslan Kapitonov, Slava Tekuchev, and many others!
This gave him the opportunity to perform in world class venues like…
Blue Note, New York, NY
Dave Koz & Friends at Sea, Jazz Cruises
Spaghettini - Seal Beach, CA
Catalina Jazz Club, Los Angeles, CA
Usadba Jazz, Moscow, Russia
Ganyme on Water, Koln, Germany
Jazzkaar Tallin International Jazz festival, Estonia
Vilnius Mama Jazz Festival, Lithuania
Jazz Big Sky international jazz festival, Eastern Europe
Sergey composed music for top theaters and over 50 films and TV shows. His rich and sensual film scores earned him a few film industry awards, including New York Independent Cinema festival award and the FICOCC Five Continents International Film festival award. Professor Emeritus; studied and collaborated with internationally renowned giants of the academic music world, such as Dmitry Shostakovich, Evgeny Svetlanov, Mstislav Rostropovich, Dmitry Kabalevsky, Dora Schwartzberg, etc.
In 2012, he moved his career to the United States of America, where he continues to perform, compose, write, and occasionally teach talented students to train the next generations of piano virtuosos. He is currently based in Los Angeles.
“Pianist Sergey Chipenko, whose resume includes gigs with everyone from Jeff Lorber and David Sanborn to Dave Koz and Will Kennedy displays keen mastery of far-ranging jazz styles.”
~ Don Heckman, Jazztimes
"Kindness is such a beautiful song... so emotive and heartfelt. It's a melody I've always loved playing."
~ Dave Koz, Grammy-nominated saxophonist
"Sergey is one of the most incredible pianists in the world..."
~ Mickey Stevenson, A&R, producer, Motown Records