Espíritu Flamenco will present an evening of traditional flamenco music, song and dance, with guitarist Jesús Guerrero, dancer and choreographer Andrés Peña and singer David Carpio.
Jesús Guerrero, flamenco guitarist and composer
Jesús Guerrero was born in 1985 in San Fernando (Cádiz). He began playing the guitar at the age of eleven under the guidance of the maestro José Luís Balao. His virtuosity with the instrument and his creative capacity have led him to be considered one of the most notable figures of the current flamenco scene, being invited to work with many great flamenco artists, such as Niña Pastori, Miguel Poveda and Argentina, among others, to collaborate in their recordings and live shows. He holds a degree in Teaching, specialising in Music Education from the University of Cadiz. He won the Flamenco Hoy Award 2014 for the best Accompanying Guitarist, awarded by the national critics specialising in flamenco.
Jesús has also been the musical composer of numerous dance shows for artists such as Merche Esmeralda ‘Última parada’, Choro Molina ‘Aviso, Bayles de gitanos’, David Coria ‘Espiral’, Ana Morales ‘ReciclArte’ and ‘De sandalia a tacón’, Eduardo Guerrero ‘El callejón de los pecados’, Andrés Peña ‘A fuego lento’, ‘Órdago a la grande’ and ‘El aire que me lleva’, Joaquín Grilo ‘Belmonte’. He was also commissioned to compose the music for ‘Aquel Silverio…’ and ‘Flamencolorquiano’ by the Ballet Flamenco de Andalucía during the period under the direction of Rafael Estévez.
Jesús collaborated in Carlos Saura’s last film ‘Flamenco Flamenco’ and has worked with many artists such as Eva la Yerbabuena, Rafael Campallo, Farruco, La Farruca, Pilar Ogalla, Matilde Coral, Nani Paños, el Londro, Rafael de Utrera, Rocío Márquez, Carmen Linares and Joan Albert Amargós. His passion for South American folk music has also led him to collaborate with the Mexican artist Lila Downs and Soledad Pastorutti, one of the greatest exponents of Argentine folk music. In 2016 he released ‘Calma’, his first solo album.
In April 2024, together with the voice of Miguel Poveda, he released the album Poema del cante jondo, in which he set to music the poem of the same name by the poet Federico García Lorca. He was awarded the Fatiguillo Prize for accompanying guitar playing at the Seville Flamenco Biennial 2024. With a restless and artistically versatile spirit, Jesús Guerrero is one of the most talented and well-rounded guitarists on the current flamenco scene.
Andrés Peña – flamenco dancer
Andrés is an accomplished and highly respected flamenco artist, dancer, musician, choreographer and teacher. He has won prestigious prizes and continues to enjoy an international career as a dancer, presenting shows at the top flamenco festivals around the world. As well as running his own studios, he is a popular teacher at flamenco academies in Spain and worldwide. Together with his partner Pilar Ogalla, Andrés directs and choreographs the Cádiz Flamenco Ballet to great critical acclaim.
From the age of 10, Andrés began to study with Angelita Gomez, refining his skills in the tablaos of Seville, Madrid, Barcelona and Tokyo. He has danced in the companies of Manuel Morao, La Chunga, Carmen Cortés, and with Eva la Yerbabuena, also collaborating with the singers Duquende and Miguel Poveda. His solo career was launched when he won the prize for young performers at the Seville Biennial Festival in 2002. He has since presented nine shows at the International Festival of Jerez, touring the world with these productions. He will direct, and appear as guest artist in his tenth show this year.
Andrés is an artist and dancer ‘who never disappoints’ (deFlamenco.com), with his mastery of improvisation, instinctive rhythm and connection with his musicians. His style is very much of his home city of Jerez de la Frontera, with musicality and elegance. Often serious, intense and focused, his exceptional interpretation of flamenco songs develops into virtuosic rhythm and exuberant celebration of the music that he loves.
David Carpio
Born in Jerez, David has tackled projects that have demanded, challenged and shaped him in a special way. He sings all styles of flamenco, with a neatness, but without losing the echo of the heritage that defines him and refers to his origins. David Carpio has been a singer from a very young age. He has participated in many important festivals including the Festival de Jerez, La Asamblea de Cante de la Puebla de Cazalla, El Festival de La Unión, El Festival de la Serrana, El de Casabermeja, El Arranque Roteño, Fiesta de la Bulería, Festival Gran Reserva and Los Viernes Flamencos de Jerez. In terms of recordings, he has two albums, ‘Mi verdad’ and ‘Con la voz en la tierra’. The first contains a live recording during his performance at the Palacio de Villavicencio in Jerez within the 2013 Jerez Festival; and the second, also presented at the Jerez Festival is a studio album with the musical production of guitarist Santiago Lara. In 2008 he participated in the collective album ‘La Nueva Frontera del Cante de Jerez’, produced by BBK and Bujío Producciones, together with many other young singers from Jerez. In 2012, coinciding with the celebration of the XVII Jerez Festival, he received the Award for Best Singing ss National Dance Awards winners Manuel Liñán and Isabel Bayón, and of other renowned dancers such as Mercedes Ruiz and the Ballet Flamenco de Andalucía, where he worked under the direction of Cristina Hoyos for several years. In 2015, he presented his first solo artistic proposal at the Jerez Festival, the show ‘Solos’, in the company of Manuel Valencia and Manuel Liñán. David Carpio is a complete singer, and he contains a sense of professionalism and seriousness that is difficult to surpass. His singing, with a full range from harsh to tender, forged in La Plazuela and transmitted orally from generation to generation, makes him a different artist with an echo of an ancestral voice. It has been said that wherever David Carpio sings, Jerez and its San Miguel neighborhood sound in his throat (Festival de Jerez 2024).
