Flamenco is a unique and impassioned musical form that originated in Andalusia, a region of southern Spain, and is the result of the musical endeavors of a diverse group of marginalized immigrants. Today, flamenco exists in traditional styles and in modern, jazz and rock influenced forms known by the all-encompassing term, neuvo flamenco. Both styles are now being performed with renewed enthusiasm in Spain and throughout the world.

Marcos and Rubina Carmona are flamenco artists who have dedicated themselves to the Sevilla, or modern traditionalist form of flamenco. Though originally from San Francisco, they both now reside in Seattle, Washington. At the age of twenty, Marcos began to study flamenco guitar while his wife Rubina developed her skills as a flamenco singer and dancer. Soon after, they traveled with their daughter to Seville, Spain where they studied with Gypsies. Following extended stays in Spain, the Carmonas performed flamenco professionally in Hollywood and finally moved to the Pacific Northwest in 1989. In 1996, Marcos and Rubina created Flamenco Arts Northwest, a non-profit arts organization for the promotion of the song, dance and music of Andalusia.

As Carmona Flamenco, Marcos and Rubina specialize in programs of contemporary flamenco and were selected for the Jack Straw Artist Support Program in the year 2000 to record some of their material. One of the pieces they recorded was an original composition commissioned by the Seattle Arts Commission, Solearas De Triana. "Solearas" means "loneliness" and is a lament, in this case specific to the area of Triana, the Gypsy quarter of Seville. Through the Artist Support Program, Marcos plans to bring to completion the work he began on a previous CD and to enhance his reputation as a soloist. He hopes that the CD will provide him with more broadcast opportunities and will serve as additional promotional tool.

You can email Marcos and Rubina at carmona2@aol.com.