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Francisco Peña Pérez (born 1 June 1942), known as Paco Peña, is a Spanish
flamenco Flamenco () is an art form based on the various folkloric music traditions of southern Spain, developed within the Gitanos, gitano subculture of the region of Andalusia, and also having historical presence in Extremadura and Region of Murcia, ...
guitarist, composer and director of his Flamenco Dance Company. He is regarded as one of the world's foremost traditional flamenco players.


Biography

Born in
Córdoba, Spain Córdoba ( ; ), or sometimes Cordova ( ), is a city in Andalusia, Spain, and the capital of the Province of Córdoba (Spain), province of Córdoba. It is the third most populated Municipalities in Spain, municipality in Andalusia. The city prim ...
, as Francisco Peña Pérez, Paco Peña began learning to play the
guitar The guitar is a stringed musical instrument that is usually fretted (with Fretless guitar, some exceptions) and typically has six or Twelve-string guitar, twelve strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming ...
from his brother at the age of six and made his first professional appearance aged 12. Encouraged by his family, he left home and began performing throughout Spain as part of a government-sponsored
folk music Folk music is a music genre that includes #Traditional folk music, traditional folk music and the Contemporary folk music, contemporary genre that evolved from the former during the 20th-century folk revival. Some types of folk music may be ca ...
and dance program. This led to calls from professional flamenco companies in Madrid and the Costa Brava, where Peña established himself as a highly regarded accompanist to flamenco dance and singing. However, dissatisfied with life on the coast and seeking a new challenge, he moved to London in the late 1960s to become a soloist. Initially the star attraction at the Restaurante Antonio in
Covent Garden Covent Garden is a district in London, on the eastern fringes of the West End, between St Martin's Lane and Drury Lane. It is associated with the former fruit-and-vegetable market in the central square, now a popular shopping and tourist sit ...
, Peña generated so much interest among the British public previously uninitiated in flamenco that he soon found himself sharing concerts with artists such as
Jimi Hendrix James Marshall "Jimi" Hendrix (born Johnny Allen Hendrix; November 27, 1942September 18, 1970) was an American singer-songwriter and musician. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest and most influential guitarists of all time. Inducted ...
, and made his solo debut at Wigmore Hall in 1967. It was not long before Peña was touring the world, both as a soloist and an accompanist with performances at
Carnegie Hall Carnegie Hall ( ) is a concert venue in Midtown Manhattan, New York City. It is at 881 Seventh Avenue (Manhattan), Seventh Avenue, occupying the east side of Seventh Avenue between 56th Street (Manhattan), 56th and 57th Street (Manhattan), 57t ...
in New York City, the
Royal Albert Hall The Royal Albert Hall is a concert hall on the northern edge of South Kensington, London, England. It has a seating capacity of 5,272. Since the hall's opening by Queen Victoria in 1871, the world's leading artists from many performance genres ...
in London and the
Concertgebouw Concertgebouw may refer to one of the following concert halls: * Concertgebouw, Amsterdam, Netherlands * Concertgebouw, Bruges, Belgium * Concertgebouw de Vereeniging, Netherlands {{disambiguation Buildings and structures disambiguation pages ...
in
Amsterdam Amsterdam ( , ; ; ) is the capital of the Netherlands, capital and Municipalities of the Netherlands, largest city of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. It has a population of 933,680 in June 2024 within the city proper, 1,457,018 in the City Re ...
. He later founded the world's first
university A university () is an educational institution, institution of tertiary education and research which awards academic degrees in several Discipline (academia), academic disciplines. ''University'' is derived from the Latin phrase , which roughly ...
course on flamenco guitar, at the
Rotterdam Rotterdam ( , ; ; ) is the second-largest List of cities in the Netherlands by province, city in the Netherlands after the national capital of Amsterdam. It is in the Provinces of the Netherlands, province of South Holland, part of the North S ...
conservatory of music. In 1984 Peña was interviewed by
Julian Bream Julian Alexander Bream (15 July 193314 August 2020) was an English classical guitarist and lutenist. Regarded as one of the most distinguished classical guitarists of the 20th century, he played a significant role in improving the public perc ...
for the
Channel 4 Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television channel owned and operated by Channel Four Television Corporation. It is state-owned enterprise, publicly owned but, unlike the BBC, it receives no public funding and is funded en ...
television series ''Guitarra!'', which traces the development of the guitar in Spain. In 1981 Peña created the Centro Flamenco Paco Peña in Córdoba, and was responsible for the founding of the now-celebrated annual Córdoba Guitar Festival, which has seen appearances by other flamenco greats such as Manolo Sanlúcar, Sabicas, BB King and
Paco de Lucía Francisco Sánchez Gómez (; 21 December 194725 February 2014), known as Paco de Lucía (), was a Spanish virtuoso flamenco guitarist, composer, and record producer. A leading proponent of the new flamenco style, he was one of the first flamen ...
. Peña was approached by the Rotterdam Conservatory of Music in 1985 to lead a post graduate flamenco guitar course as part of their curriculum (later forming part of Codarts, the world music department of the institution), the first of its kind. He remained professor of the course there for 35 years, until 2020. In 1997 Peña was named Oficial de la Cruz de la Orden del Mérito Civil by King Juan Carlos of Spain. His most famous musical compositions include his ''Misa Flamenca'' (a Flamenco Mass 1990) and ''Réquiem por la Tierra'' (''Requiem for the Earth 2004)'', both of which have received great critical acclaim. He has also had a number of notable collaborations, significantly with the Argentinian guitarist Eduardo Falú and the
Chile Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in western South America. It is the southernmost country in the world and the closest to Antarctica, stretching along a narrow strip of land between the Andes, Andes Mountains and the Paci ...
an group Inti-Illimani. Peña has collaborated with the classical guitarist
John Williams John Towner Williams (born February 8, 1932)Nylund, Rob (November 15, 2022)Classic Connection review, ''WBOI'' ("For the second time this year, the Fort Wayne Philharmonic honored American composer, conductor, and arranger John Williams, who w ...
and toured with fellow guitarists Joe Pass, Leo Kotke and Pepe Romero. Since 2002, Peña has collaborated on various productions with acclaimed theatre director and visionary Jude Kelly. Peña also provided the chapter on flamenco guitar for the book ''The Guitar (A Guide For Students And Teachers)''.''The Guitar (A Guide For Students And Teachers)'',
Oxford University Press Oxford University Press (OUP) is the publishing house of the University of Oxford. It is the largest university press in the world. Its first book was printed in Oxford in 1478, with the Press officially granted the legal right to print books ...
(), 1988; reprinted 2000 – Chapter 13, p. 211,
Peña has homes in London and Córdoba. More recent shows include ''Solera, Flamencura, Patrias, Flamenco Sin Fronteras'', which explores the relationship between Venezuelan music and flamenco; and ''Quimeras,'' which features the Paco Peña Flamenco Dance Company performing a story about immigrants from Africa arriving in
Andalusia Andalusia ( , ; , ) is the southernmost autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community in Peninsular Spain, located in the south of the Iberian Peninsula, in southwestern Europe. It is the most populous and the second-largest autonomou ...
.


Discography

CD * 1987: ''Fragments of a Dream'' ( Inti-Illimani with
John Williams John Towner Williams (born February 8, 1932)Nylund, Rob (November 15, 2022)Classic Connection review, ''WBOI'' ("For the second time this year, the Fort Wayne Philharmonic honored American composer, conductor, and arranger John Williams, who w ...
) * 1987: ''Flamenco Guitar Music of Ramón Montoya and Niño Ricardo'' * 1988: ''Azahara'' * 1990: ''Leyenda'' (live in Cologne Inti-Illimani with John Williams) * 1991: ''Misa Flamenca'' * 1992: ''Encuentro'' (with Eduardo Falú) * 1995: ''The Art of Paco Peña'' (anthology) * 1999: ''Arte y Pasión'' (live, with Company) * 2000: ''Flamenco Guitar'' (Montoya/Ricardo & Azahara) * 2003: ''Flamenco Master: Essential flamenco recordings'' (anthology) * 2004: ''Fabulous Flamenco / La Gitarra Flamenca'' (remastered) * 2007: ''His Essential Recordings'' (anthology) * 2007: ''A Flamenco Guitar Recital'' (live) * 2008: ''A Compás!'' (Live, with Company) * 2011: Flamenco sin Fronteras (Live at Sadler's Wells Theatre) * 2014: ''Duo Recital'' (with Eliot Fisk) * 2015: ''En estado de gracia'' * 2018: ''Con la Verdad por Delante'' LP * 1966: ''Flamenco!'' (El Sali & his Ballet Espagnol) * 1968: ''The Incredible Paco Peña'' * 1969: ''Carnival'' (with Los Marachuchos) * 1970: ''Flamenco'' * 1970: ''The Art of Flamenco'' (with Company) * 1972: ''Flamenco Puro Live'' (with Company) * 1973: ''The Art of the Flamenco Guitar'' * 1975: ''Fabulous Flamenco!'' * 1976: ''Toques Flamencos'' (Student pieces, with book) * 1977: ''La Guitarra '' ic* 1978: ''The Flamenco World of Paco Peña'' * 1979: ''Live in London'' * 1980: ''Live at Sadler's Wells'' (with Company) * 1985: ''Flamenco Vivo'' (live) DVD * 1985: ''Guitarra!'' (
Julian Bream Julian Alexander Bream (15 July 193314 August 2020) was an English classical guitarist and lutenist. Regarded as one of the most distinguished classical guitarists of the 20th century, he played a significant role in improving the public perc ...
) uest appearance* 1991: ''Misa Flamenca'' * 2013: Quimeras (Live at Sadler's Wells Theatre)


References


External links


Paco Peña's website

Music Conservatory and Dance Academy of Rotterdam.

Rotterdam´s World Music and Dance Centre


* {{DEFAULTSORT:Pena, Paco 1942 births Living people Codarts University for the Arts alumni Spanish flamenco guitarists Spanish male guitarists