Fuego en la sangre - Fire in the bloth
The “Fuego en la Sangre / Fire in the Blood” recital presents,in all its splendour, the amazing passion that the Spanish music is capable of expressing. It is a journey that starts at the beginning of the XVIII century with the so called “escuela bolera / bolero school”, with authors such as Blas de Laserna, Manuel García or Sebastián Iradier whose composition inspired Bizet in creating the world famous “Habanera“ aria in his opera “Carmen”.
Lorca, Falla, Hallfter and Granados are part of our essential Spanish roots nourished by the deepest and oldest of our popular traditions. Hence, we could not forget to present such jewels as the popular songs by Federico Garcia Lorca or the gipsy lullaby by Manuel Falla. The recital ends with two contemporary Spanish composer, Joaquín Díaz from Zamora and the great Joan Manuel Serrat and his wonderful rendering of Antonio Machado’s poem “La Saeta”.
The “Fuego en la Sangre” artistic formation is composed by the spanish baritone Luis Santana, the flamenco dancer Almudena Roca and the pianist José Manuel Cuenca
LUIS SANTANA - Baritone
This Spanish baritone native of Zamora, is one of the most respected and appreciated baritones in the Spanish opera scene. He is specialised in Rossini and Spanish chamber music and lieder.
He has performed in the most important concert halls and theatres of Spain and Europe and in memorable concerts in the most important cathedrals at the presence of the King and Queen of Spain. He has been invited to sing together with the legendary Orfeón Donostiarra at the presence of her Majesty queen Sofia.
He has participated as leading lyrical voice and pianist to the tours of the famous late spanish artists Paco Valladares and Nati Mistral.
He has been protagonist of an extensive tour between 2014 and 2016 touching all of Saint Teresa of Ávila founded convents with the renown TV journalist Paloma Gómez Borrero. He has been Malatesta, Fígaro, Sharpless, Germont, Belcore, Papageno, liutenant Mora- les, Enrico, Marcello, Pin, Tio Salvador, Dandini and Taddeo in prestigious venues in Rome, Milan, Naples, Turin, Catania, Como, Parma, Bologna, Modena, Toulon, Paris, Vienna, Lisbn, Kiev, Lviv, Donetsk, Odessa, London, Moscow, Sofia, Bucarest, Frankfurt and Berlin among others.
He shared the stage with many great spanish and foreign singers and world renown compo- sers such as Antón García Abril, Cristobal Halffter, Miquel Ortega, Miguel Manzano, Juan Duran, Javier Centeno, Santiago Baez, David Rivas, Ernesto Monsalve, Manuel Comesaña, Manuel Millán, Jesús Legido, Victor Carvajo have written compositions especially for him. He has been pupil of the Maestro Pedro Lavirgen and of the great Teresa Berganza.
Furthermore he has established and recurring collaborations with the opera singers Montserrat Martí Caballé, Cecilia Lavilla Berganza and Simona Todaro-Pavarotti and with the spanish actresses Loles León, Charo Lopez and Maria Galiana, adding up more than 160 concerts between 2020 and 2021 throughout Spain and Europe despite the pandemic.
He was awarded with the "Prokifiev Artist" gold medal at the composer birthplace and with the silver medal of the Opera Friends in Lleida.
JOSÉ MANUEL CUENCA - Piano
José Manuel did his Piano and Clarinet studies at the "Conservatorio Superior de Música de Córdoba", finishing both instruments with a "Premio Extraordinario Fin de Carrera / Extraordinary End of Studies Reward".
He has developed an extensive artistic career in Spain, Belgium, Polonia, Germany, Cuba, United Kingdom, Czech Republic, Slovakian Republic, France, Andorra, United States, Venezuela, Austria, Brasil, Croatia, Hungary, Greece, Ukraine, Denmark, Turkey, Italy, Sweden, Lebanon, Siria, Portugal, Swiss, Philippine and Japan, performing in prestigious auditoriums such as New York Carnegie Hall, the National Auditorium and the Royal Theatre in Madrid, the Hacettpe Auditorium in Ankara (Turkey), the “Purcell Room” at the London Southbank Centre (UK), at the inauguration of the "Auditorio de la Casa Museo Andrés Sego- via" , the Palau de la Música (Valencia), the Guitar Palace in Japan, etc.
Together with his brother, Francisco Cuenca, he has recorded eight records, mainly dedica- ted to Spanish Music, published and distributed by “Dial Discos”, S. A. from Madrid. They have also a live video recorded at the Guitar Palace in Japan, and a DVD at the FA- zioli Gallery in Paris, recorded by Searstar Music TV.
They were awarded, by the Linares Municipa- lity, the 2001 Culture Award for their trajectory in favour of culture.
Similarly, the Congress “Linares Información” has given them in 2004, the Award “Linarenses sin fronteras” together with such relevant artists as the Spanish singer Raphael.
In May 2005, he was nominated Honorary Professor of the Huarte de San Juan Institute in Linares, with the sponsorship of Dr.Perucho, prestigious international scientist, discoverer of human oncogenes.
In 2007 he was awarded with the Mention of Honor “Dulce de Membrillo” in the IV chart of the Women Association María Górriz of Puente Genil (Córdoba). In 2009 the Puente Genil city council names him "Hijo Predilecto"and gives him the City Gold Medal. In 2010 he received the Andrés Segovia Medal from Foundation named after the distinguished linarean guitarist
ALMUDENA ROCA - Dancer
She was born in Cartagena(Murcia). From an early age she is attracted by the world of dance and this is how she begins her studies at the Conservatorio Profesional de Danza de Murcia, where, on top of being promoted and terminating her studies before the standard times, receives the Honorary Enrollment in the Professional Degree of Spanish and Flamenco Dance in 2012.
She obtains the First Prize in Spanish Dance and Flamenco at the "Tiempo de Danza" Competition of Murcia, she is also sponsored by Doña Virginia Valero, director of the Conservatorio Superior de Danza in Madrid 'María de Avila' to begin her studies in this center, and thus in 2017 she obtains the Degree of Superior Title in Choreography and Interpreta- tion of Spanish and Flamenco Dance by this same center. During this stage Almudena has had the pleasure of taking class with teachers such as Elvira Andrés, Oscar Jiménez, Rafaela Carrasco, Isabel Bayón, José Maldonado, Pe- dro Córdoba, Ana Morales, David Coria, Antonio Pérez, Virginia Valero, Eva López Crevillén, Virginia López Gallo, Gonzalo Zaragoza, Guadalupe Mera, Angel Martínez Roger and many others.
She combines her professional career with academic career, graduating in the Master's Degree in Flamencology from the Escuela Superior de Música de Catalunya in September 2018. In the meantime attend workshops and classes with different teachers such as: Oscar Jiménez, Rafaela Carrasco,
Isabel Bayón, José Maldonado, Pedro Córdo- ba, Ana Morales, David Coria, Antonio Pérez, Virginia Valero, Eva López Crevillén, Virginia López Gallo, Gonzalo Zaragoza, Guadalupe Mera, Angel Martínez Roger and many others. She is currently member of the "María Pagés Dance Company", the "Compañía de Flamen- co y Danza José Antonio" and of the "Compañía De Sangre y Raza".
In her artistic trajectory is of note her role as soloist in the Antonio Márquez company up to June 2019 and here roles in the Compañía Lírica de Zarzuela! Spanish Musical directed byCarlos Vilán, in the Compañía Clara Ramona & Co directed by Nino e Isaac de los Reyes, in the Ballet Flamenco del Cante de Las Minas de La Unión under the artistic direction of Ja- vier Latorre, Ángel Manarre, Ángel Rojas y Carlos Rodrígue and in the Ballet Español de Murcia directed by Carmen y Matilde Rubio.