Pianist and composer Riopy has announced a UK tour including a Manchester performance at the Stoller Hall in February 2023.
News of the 10-date tour follows his sold-out European run which included a capacity crowd at London’s Union Chapel.
The self-taught Franco-British artist has racked up more than half a billion streams and an album which has been on the US Billboard Charts for nearly two years.
The tour marks Riopy’s first full UK run, opening at London’s Cadogan Hall and including further dates at Leeds’ Howard Assembly Room and Edinburgh’s Queens 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.
When does Riopy perform at Manchester’s Stoller Hall?
Riopy performs at Manchester’s Stoller Hall on 3 February 2023. The Manchester show is one of 10 UK dates he is performing:
1 February – London, Cadogan Hall
2 February – Bristol, St Georges
3 February – Manchester, Stoller Hall
4 February – Gateshead, Sage
5 February – Leeds, Howard Assembly Room
8 February – Edinburgh, Queens Hall
9 February – Bury St Edmunds, Apex
10 February – Coventry, Warwick Arts Centre
11 February – Canterbury, Gulbenkian
12 February – Southampton, Turner Sims Concert Hall
When do tickets go on sale for Riopy’s UK tour?
Tickets for Riopy’s UK tour go on sale on Friday 7 October.
