Twelve soloists under the age of 30 will take center stage at Suma Flamenca Joven, the youth-focused platform of Madrid’s Suma Flamenca festival. The fifth edition runs from September 25 to 28, 2025, in the Sala Verde at Teatros del Canal. The series will highlight rising talents in flamenco guitar, piano, cante (singing), and baile (dance). Each evening features a curated 90-minute gala structured around three performances: one instrumental, one vocal, and one dance.
Participants include pianist José Luis Kaele, a Valladolid native known for his elegant style, who will open the first gala with bassist Javier Colina. Sevillian cantaora Reyes Carrasco, the youngest recipient of La Unión’s prestigious Festival de Cante de las Minas award, follows with guitarist Rubén Lara and percussionists Edu Gómez and Perico La Chana. The closing set features Granada-born dancer Irene Morales, joined by singers Antonio Campos and Juan Ángel Tirado, and guitarist José Fermín Fernández.
The second gala presents Serbian guitarist Andjela Misic, whose work draws from both flamenco and western classical idioms; Granada’s Esperanza Garrido, an agile and emotionally grounded cantaora, accompanied by Paco Jarana; and Madrid-based bailaora Nerea Carrasco, performing alongside singers Rafita de Madrid and Saúl Quirós, guitarist David Cerreduela, and percussionist Moncada.
Guitarist Pablo Heredia, winner of the Young Flamenco Guitarists Competition in Jaén, opens the third night with percussionist Alejandro Daneri. Cante duties fall to David Fernández, scion of the renowned Fernández family of Seville, joined by guitarist Juan Anguita and palmeros Miguel Fernández and Emilio Castañeda. The evening concludes with Sevillian bailaora Lole de los Reyes, daughter of dancer Juan de los Reyes, accompanied by singers Eleazar Cerreduela and José Luis Hernández, guitarist Alejandro Moreno, and the elder de los Reyes on palmas.
The final gala features concert guitarist Juan Anguita, also from Seville, followed by Badajoz-born cantaora Celia Romero, recipient of the Lámpara Minera award, performing with guitarist Niño Seve and percussionists Félix Romero and Luis Vadillo. Bailaor Yoel Vargas, from Tarragona, who won the 2023 Premio Desplante at La Unión, closes the series alongside singers Aroa Fernández and Loreto de Diego, guitarist Javier Conde, and percussionist Juan M. de las Heras.
Tradition and Vanguard in Dialogue
Preceding the concerts, the festival hosts a four-day theoretical program at Madrid’s Ateneo, opening October 1, and anchored in the enduring dialectic between flamenco’s traditional essence and its avant-garde evolution. Entry is free until venue capacity is reached.
The schedule includes roundtable discussions and lectures by prominent figures such as José Luis Ortiz Nuevo, Ángeles Toledano, Agapito Pageo, and Ángeles Castellanos, moderated by journalist Pedro Calvo. Guitarist Salvador Gutiérrez and percussionist Daniel Suárez will give a recital following the opening session.
On October 2, researcher Pedro G. Romero presents El Flamenco, Antes y Después del Flamenco, examining how flamenco’s identity has historically been shaped by tensions between purity and experimentation. A performance by Sebastián Cruz (cante), Raúl Cantizano (guitars, zanfoña), and Marco Serrato (double bass) will follow.
Music historian José Manuel Gamboa argues that today’s so-called “pure” flamenco is the residue of decades of hybridization and aesthetic upheaval. His talk ¿Qué Hay de Nuevo, Viejo? Todo Está Inventado on October 3 precedes a performance by the duo Al-Blanco (cante) and El Peli (guitar).
The program concludes October 4 with Tradición & Vanguardia. La Fin del Mundo, a reflection by Ortiz Nuevo on the inevitability of innovation in sustaining flamenco’s legacy. Guitarist Alejandro Hurtado, winner of the 2017 Bordón Minero, will close the session.
A Decade of Images: Claudia Ruiz Caro’s Exhibition
Running concurrently, the Anselma exhibition space at the Ateneo hosts Tradición & Vanguardia, a photography exhibit by Claudia Ruiz Caro. Her decade-long documentation of flamenco, both onstage and behind the scenes (2015–2025), captures the genre’s evolving aesthetics through intimate portraits and performance imagery. The exhibition runs October 1–29 with free admission.
These initiatives form the intellectual and artistic backbone of Suma Flamenca’s 20th edition, which continues through November 2 with a total of 46 performances across Madrid.
More information at madrid.org/sumaflamenca/2025/joven/index.html
Author: World Music Central News Room
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