Carmen Linares

“Carmen Linares’ flamenco intensity, its alchemy of passion … rose to furious, desperate timeless invocations of lost love” New York Times

CARMEN LINARES is one of the living legends in flamenco singing. A master of the “jondo” style of singing, Linares has set her sound to the classical-oriented accompaniment of symphonic and chamber orchestras for nearly two decades. She was the first flamenco singer to perform with the New York Philharmonic Orchestra — but she has been equally forceful performing to the classic flamenco accompaniment of a guitar. While The New York Times praised her for her “extraordinary and expressive power,” El Mundo, in Spain, claimed “she possesses three invaluable virtues: power of communication, purity without purism, and all-around competence.” Her voice has the gritty quality of a blues singer. It’s a lived-in voice, textured by an age old wisdom, passed on generation to generation, and unteachable elegance. Carmen Linares is the grand dame of cante.