Playing for presidents: The Llewellyn Sánchez-Werner story

Llewellyn Sánchez-Werner first started playing the piano when he was two years old. That’s when his Mexican-born mother first noticed his talent.

By age 14, Sánchez-Werner became the youngest person at that time to be enrolled in Juilliard’s College division program. Since then, the now 28-year-old has played all over the world, including for presidents domestically and abroad.

Sánchez-Werner joined “Horizonte” to talk about his career and spoke about what it means to perform as the child of immigrants, especially now, amid times of high tension and uncertainty for immigrant families.

“I think that immigrants are what make America great. They always have, they always will,” Sánchez-Werner said. “I’m proud to be the child of immigrants. If music is what allows us to express this with our full hearts and souls, then that is something I’m extremely honored to continue doing.”

Sánchez-Werner added, “Music is one of the universal languages closest to our hearts. It has these uniting capabilities, and I think that honestly, it’s the way we pass down traditions from generation to generation and we show the best of ourselves to the whole world.”

Sánchez-Werner also spoke about why using his music for social change is so meaningful to him.

“I think that any time a Mexican-American artist performs internationally, we’re just ambassadors for our culture, showing people who we are. When we perform at home, we’re able to further galvanize the strength and the spirit of our community to be at its full force,” Sánchez-Werner said.

Visit Llewellyn Sánchez-Werner’s website to view his work and upcoming performances.