Estrella Morente - Mujeres

Enrique Morente's eldest daughter, at 27, already boasts a full resume as one of flamenco's young rising stars. In spite of her youth, she has sown the seeds of her art and her musical gifts across the globe. She is blessed with a pure, crystalline vocal timbre and moves easily between warm, seductive tones and raw, expressive phrases.
Estrella possesses  a profound knowledge of her art as well as  innate musical taste. She has become a point of reference for aficionados and newcomers to flamenco singing,  combining the early influences of her native Granada with the latest tendencies in the flamenco of the new millennium

She has adhered to simple and untainted song-forms and her singing is neither pure nor orthodox, but contains that edge of personality that makes for a true revolution in the best tradition of flamenco Cante.
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ESTRELLA 1922 (Dedicated to Pastora Pavón “Niña de los Peines”)

Artistic Director: Enrique Morente
ESTRELLA’S concert this evening evokes a historic event, namely the first ever Flamenco Singing Competition held in Granada in 1922 and created by some of the most important cultural figures at that time (Lorca, Falla, Gómez de la Serna, Zuloaga, etc.). It is therefore a symbol of gratitude to them for their recognition of flamenco art, whatever the results and conclusions of the competition itself. We know that other parallel events took place and that at the time, many historic flamenco performers, as well as other artists, were invited, such as Don Antonio Chacón, Manolo de Huelva, Manuel Torres, Montoya y Pastora Pavón ( La Niña de los Peines) among others. A flamenco troupe form Granada’s Sacromonte enclave also performed.

The evocation of Pastora Pavón “Niña de los Peines”, artist and ground-breaking performer, symbolizes this memory by incorporating sounds and styles of that period in flamenco history. It is to her, and to all those women who exemplified the concept of freedom that this homage is meant, and which is reflected on the table we see on stage with a photograph of María Zambrano, another revered personality in the arts realm.
 Through ESTRELLA 1922, I intend to encourage the relationship between flamenco and other art forms to continue to flourish. My thanks to Flamenco Festival London for providing Estrella Morente, a woman of today, the chance to offer her songs to the city of London.

Enrique Morente / Artistic Director
(translation: Debora Garber)