Paco Peña

Francisco Peña Pérez (born 1 June 1942), known as Paco Peña, is a Spanish flamenco 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, as Francisco Peña Pérez, Paco Peña began learning to play the guitar 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 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, 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, 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 in New York City, the Royal Albert Hall in London and the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam. He later founded the world's first university course on flamenco guitar, at the Rotterdam conservatory of music. In 1984 Peña was interviewed by Julian Bream for the Channel 4 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.

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 Chilean group Inti-Illimani.

Peña has collaborated with the classical guitarist John Williams 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 (), 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.

Discography

CD
* 1987: ''Fragments of a Dream'' ( Inti-Illimani with John Williams)
* 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) 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


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