Omega With Kiki Morente, Lagartija Nick, and Israel Galván, the tribute to Blanca del Rey, Vicente Amigo, and Paco de Lucía Legacy. Paco PeñaJosé Antonio Rodríguez, Rycardo Moreno and Juanfe Pérez complete a program that covers the flamenco From the deepest traditions to the most daring avant-garde, Rosario la Tremendita and Inmaculada Aguilar strengthen the event's educational program, designed not only for guitar and dance specialists, but also for anyone who, in one way or another, wishes to learn and explore new worlds.
Rarely has a guitar festival brought together so much active flamenco history in its program. The return of Omega –the work with which Enrique Morente and Lagartija Nick broke the boundaries of the genre thirty years ago– arrives in Córdoba with kiki morente e Israel Galvan. Vicente Friend, Paco Peña, José Antonio Rodríguez, Rycardo Moreno y Juanfe Perez represent the flamenco From the deepest tradition to the most daring avant-garde. The exceptional cast of Paco de Lucia Legacy and the premiere of the tribute to White of the King They complete a program that includes guitar, cantedance and new creations in all their diversity.
The 45th Córdoba Guitar Festival, organized by the IMAE-Gran Teatro de Córdoba, kicks off on 25 June with the previous cycle and unfolds its official program from the 1st to the 11th July. With more than four decades of history, the festival has made the guitar its central theme and transmission one of its hallmarks: the artists on the program participate in courses, masterclasses and open meetings with the public that make the event more than just a series of concerts.
Vicente Amigo opens the commemorative prologue
On June 25th and 26th, Vicente Friend opens the pre-show for this special 45th anniversary commemorative edition. Two-time Latin Grammy winner – for City of the ideas (2001) and Memory of the senses (2017), the latter also nominated for the American Grammys, holder of the Gold Medal of Fine Arts and the Ondas Award, has performed at Carnegie Hall in New York, the Teatro Real in Madrid and the Liceu in Barcelona, worked with Paco de Lucía and Manolo Sanlúcar, and collaborated on the legendary album Omega by Enrique Morente.
Adopted Son of Cordoba is the name the Festival has chosen to open its most symbolic year.
The maturity of the flamenco on stage
The festival officially opens on July 1st with Paco Peña and his show SoleraA production that has garnered five stars in publications such as Culture Whisper, The Reviews Hub o Everything Theatreand headlines like "the perfect mix", according to Bachtrackor "simply extraordinary," in the words of Number 9 ReviewsConceived by the Cordoban guitarist – founder of the festival and the Chair of Flamenco Guitar at the University of Rotterdam –, it is directed by Jude Kelly, former director of London's Southbank Centre; the choreography of Ferdinand Romero and the special musical collaboration of Dani de MoronPaco Peña He dedicates the show to the memory of his sister Rosarillo, who died in Córdoba during rehearsals, and arrives filled with the emotion of someone who knows that tradition, in the flamenco As with wine, only time can reveal it.
"Vicente Amigo, Paco PeñaJosé Antonio Rodríguez, Rycardo Moreno and Juanfe Pérez represent the flamenco From the deepest tradition to the most daring avant-garde. The exceptional cast of Paco de Lucía Legacy and the premiere of the tribute to Blanca del Rey complete a program that integrates guitar, cantedance and new creations in all their diversity"
The contemporary touch
The July 4, José Antonio Rodríguez Quintet It presents a proposal that encompasses everything in the world of flamenco canteGuitar, new instrumentations, and dance—all from a modern and exhilarating perspective. The program explores palos such as the rondeña, the soleá, the colombiana or the alegría in original compositions with titles like Guadalcazar, Athena o Connection Manhattan, which reveal the scope of an artist who was awarded the Bordón Minero at the age of 17.
accompany you Diego Villegas –Giraldillo Award for Best Solo Instrument at the 2020 Seville Biennial– for the flute, saxophone and harmonica; Sergio Di Finizio to the bottom; Patricio Cámara 'Pachi' to percussion and vocals; and Sabrina Romero to the percussion, the cante and the dance.
One day later, Rycardo Moreno brings to the stage Flamenco MorenoThe guitarist from Lebrija, described by critics as the artist of his generation with 'a radically unique sound', places his fretless guitar at the center – which expands the expressive limits of the genre through the use of microtones – in dialogue with the more orthodox flamenco guitar. With the voice of Noelia de los Ríos y Bethlehem of the Kings, the percussion of Ane Carrasco and the dance of Nazareth of the Kings.
The flamenco guitar cycle is joined by the 7th Juanfe Perez with Jondura Electric, a proposal in which the electric bass finds its natural place within the universe flamencoestablishing a dialogue between the jondo and the contemporary from a musical coherence that transcends the experiment.
The legacy of Paco de Lucía
The July 10, Paco de Lucia Legacy It pays tribute to the guitarist from Algeciras from a contemporary perspective that reflects the innovative and open vision that always characterized him. The cast is a statement in itself: Josemi Carmona, Diego del Morao, Juan Habichuela Nieto, Antonio Rey y Antonio Sanchez on the guitar, Chano Dominguez at the piano Duquende, Sandra Carrasco, David de Jacoba y Maria Terremoto to the voice, farru to the dance, Joni Losada to the bottom and Israel Suarez 'Piranha' to the drawer. Through emblematic compositions, improvisations, and new creations, the show conveys the spirit of freedom and the ability to transcend. borders that made Paco de Lucía a universal figure.
Blanca del Rey and the historic closure of Omega
On July 11, the festival's closing events will be divided between two stages and two equally important moments. World premiere of The White Queengala tribute to White of the King with dramaturgy and direction by Paco López: the flamenco dancer and choreographer –National Prize winner Flamenco, Gold Medal for Merit in Fine Arts awarded by the Kings of Spain, Medal of Madrid, Gold Medal of Córdoba and creator of the Soleá del Mantón – celebrates her 80th anniversary in a show that It also commemorates the 70th anniversary of the National Art Competition Flamenco of Córdoba and the 40th anniversary of the reopening of the Gran TeatroThree anniversaries that merge into a single night.
For its part, Omega. 30th Anniversary The festival closes on its first Andalusian date after its premiere in Madrid. The project with which Enrique Morente y Nick lizard transformed the flamenco in the nineties —melting cante jondoThe poetry of García Lorca and the influence of Leonard Cohen, with an electric dimension that marked a before and after, return thirty years later, led by kiki morentewhose voice bridges the gap between his father's legacy and the present. This isn't the first time Omega and Córdoba have crossed paths: Morente performed at the festival in 1997, during the height of its transformation. flamencoAnd in July 2009, the Axerquía Theatre hosted a stage adaptation of the album. That same stage is now hosting, with Israel Galvan signing and performing the choreography, the closing of a work that continues to be a benchmark of contemporary music.
From the stage to the classroom
El flamenco It's not just featured in this edition: it's also being broadcast. Training programDeveloped at the Rafael Orozco Higher Conservatory of Music, this program transforms featured artists into instructors. Designed not only for guitar and dance students, but also for anyone who wants to learn and discover new worlds, this edition Paco Serrano teaches a course on resources flamencos for the universal guitar. Manolo Franco It addresses the flamenco guitar accompaniment to cante, with the attending singer Mercedes Abenza. And Rosario the Tremendita She leads a creative workshop on voice and instrument. The classes Master dance classes are led by Inmaculada Aguilar –The bata de cola: technique and aesthetics in the Soleá dance– and javier latorre –Jerez rhythm–.
The cycle The Guitar Tells The festival closes the circle between stage and classroom with one of its defining features: the artists performing on stage share their creative processes with the public and students in free, open sessions. This initiative, launched in 2021, offers an opportunity to get to know the featured artists of this year's festival up close. The sessions, held in the mornings at Sala Telares and free of charge until capacity is reached, will feature, among other artists, Paco Peña (30 of June), José Antonio Rodríguez (2 of July) and White of the King (10 for July).
XLV Cordoba Guitar Festival
Dates: July 1-11, 2026 (preliminary dates: June 25, 26 and 27)
Scenarios: Great theater · Gongora Theatre · Axerquía Theatre · Orange Tree Courtyard of the Mosque-Cathedral · Gran Capitán Boulevard · Arab house · CSM Rafael Orozco
Tickets and more information: www.guitarracordoba.es · Córdoba Theatre | Municipal Institute of Performing Arts · teatrocordoba.es/festival-guitarra-cordoba · IMAE-Theatres of Córdoba App (iOS and Android)
Training program: FGC Courses · festivalguitarracursos@cordoba.es · +34 957 480 292 · Góngora Theatre, C/ Jesús y María, 10, Córdoba
