Spanish flamenco singer Miguel Angel Poveda León was born in Barcelona on February 13, 1973. He grew up in the Badalona suburb and started singing at 15 at local peñas flamencas (Flamenco fan clubs).
In 1993, Miguel Poveda won the most sought-after award “La Lampara Minera” at the 33rd Song Festival de las Minas de La Unión and became known to a wider public. At the same festival, Miguel Poveda obtained three further awards La Cartagenera, La Malagueña and La Soleá
Having gained recognition as a new talent by the professional flamenco world, his artistic career quickly developed. In 1994, film director Bigas Luna took him on as an actor in the movie “La Teta i la Lluna”. One year later he produced his first CD “Viento del Este” together with musicians such as Moraíto, Carles Benavent and José Soto.
In 1996 Miguel Poveda participated in various festivals in Spain and Europe and set out for his first tour of Japan. In the following year he produced a show about García Lorca for a seminar organized by the University of Bologna, Italy.
In 1998 he attended the “Festival of Culture and Arts” in Ramallah, Palestine and was the invited artist in “La Vida es un Sueño” presented by Calixto Bieito in the International Festival of Edinburgh. At the same time he presented successfully his latest show “Suena Flamenco” throughout Europe. The most outstanding pieces of these live concerts are included in his CD “Suena Flamenco”.
Miguel Poveda is one of those artists who grow once they are on stage and manages to connect quickly with the public. In 2003 he moved to Seville one of the cradles of flamenco.
In 2009, Poveda released Coplas del querer, a double album featuring copla classics with arrangements by Joan Albert Amargós featuring guitarist Chicuelo and Alberto Iglesias.
In 2015 Poveda released “Sonetos y poemas para la libertad.” It’s a collection of poems by leading poets from the Spanish-speaking world in Spain and Latin America, including Quevedo, Rafael de León, Federico García Lorca, Borges, Miguel Hernández, Pablo Neruda and Joaquín Sabina. Poveda recreated the expression of these poems through flamenco.
Poveda said about Lorca: “That’s something that comes with me. He’s impregnated my skin, my repertoire, and I can’t imagine not having him part of my concerts, even if it’s just one song. And after that, whatever people like.”
In 2018 he released “El tiempo pasa volando” a double CD with new songs and tributes to great flamenco artists, celebrating Miguel’s 30th anniversary as an artist.
Discography:
Viento del Este (1995)
Suena Flamenco (Harmonia Mundi Ibérica HMI 98719, 1999)
Zaguan (Harmonia Mundi, 2001)
Poemas del Exilio Rafael ALberti (Harmonia Mundi, 2004)
Qawwali-Flamenco (Accords Croises, 2006)
Desglac (Discmedi, 2005)
Tierra de calma (Discmedi, 2006)
Cante i orchestra (Discmedi, 2009)
Coplas del querer (Universal Music, 2009)
Coplas del querer en directo live (Universal Music, 2010)
Artesano (Universal Music, 2012)
Real (Universal Music, 2012)
Diálogos De Buenos Aires A Granada, with Rodolfo Mederos (Universal Music, 2013)
Sonetos y poemas para la libertad (Universal Music, 2015)
13 (Universal Music Spain, 2016)
Enlorquecido (Carta Blanca Records 2018)
El tiempo pasa volando (Universal Music Spain, 2018)
Author: Angel Romero
Angel Romero y Ruiz has dedicated his life to musical exploration. His efforts included the creation of two online portals, worldmusiccentral.org and musicasdelmundo.com. In addition, Angel is the co-founder of the Transglobal World Music Chart, a panel of world music DJs and writers that celebrates global sounds. Furthermore, he delved into the record business, producing world music studio albums and compilations. His works have appeared on Alula Records, Ellipsis Arts, Indígena Records and Music of the World.
Updated biography and discography