I remember the invitation from Angels Cruzado to attend the First Cycle of Flamenco Guitar for Women in the Peña Flamenca Torres Macarena (Seville). It was October 20, 2022, when I was about to go on stage in the pouring rain. There were about fifteen people waiting for me to appear. Davinia BallesterosAnd amidst various musical touches, he made a reference to me and dedicated his composition, a fandango from Huelva, to me. I felt that from the very beginning of the concert. pellizco that we recognize the flamencoThat's when something is real. And both Davinia Ballesteros and Isaac Moreno They brought out a rainbow of flamenco on a night when the rain was pouring down.
Davinia Ballesteros Sojo was born in Malaga in 1982. Her father, Enrique Ballesteros, and his mother, Manuela SojoHer family is completed by her sister Raquel. Although she grew up in a family without a musical tradition, from a young age she showed an affinity for the flamenco guitar, a fact reflected in the long car trips she took with her father listening to it. flamencoAnd that's where Davinia becomes interested in this music. Her interest is so great that she learns it by heart. Between two waters, the famous rumba from Algeciras Paco de Lucía.
Although much of her training revolves around classical guitar, she began her guitar studies at the age of six. This stemmed from seeing her sister's lack of interest in learning to play the instrument. And so it was she who picked up the guitar and began to learn. Gabriel Cabrera, The teacher from Alcalá de los Gazules. At the age of eight he also began to study classical guitar.
Our guitarist begins her classical guitar studies at the Higher Conservatory of Music of Malaga in 1993. With top marks in all courses, as well as honors and an end-of-degree honors award. During this time, he won Second Prize in the VI National Guitar Competition America Martinez in Seville. He continued his academic training with a diploma in Music Teaching, and in 2005 a degree in Classical Guitar, at the Manuel Castillo Higher Conservatory of Musicand in 2012 obtained a degree in Flamenco Guitar at the Rafael Orozco Conservatory of Music from Córdoba. It is worth highlighting her end-of-degree honors in Classical Guitar, as well as her top rankings in the entrance exams for higher classical guitar studies, and also in the entrance exams for intermediate flamenco guitar studies.
To complete his training, he takes advanced musical courses in both classical and flamenco guitar. In addition, he studies with renowned teachers from the national and international scene. Among many others, we highlight Álvaro Pierri, David Russell, Marco Socías, Roland Dyens, Álex Garrobé, Alberto Ponce, Gerardo Arriaga, Jorge Cardoso, Eduardo Fernández, Óscar Gighlia, Gaëlle Solal, Iliana Matos, Pepe Romero, Fernando Moreno, Paco Serrano, Enrique de Melchor, Víctor Monje Serranito, Manolo Franco, Daniel Navarro 'Niño de Pura' or José Juan Pantoja.
Davinia has a deep understanding of an instrument so deeply rooted in our musical culture. She earns the respect and admiration of everyone around her. Her knowledge of the guitar and her skill make her one of the most interesting guitarists in the flamenco world. Furthermore, her teaching is extraordinary. And her affable and approachable nature connects with people, conveying and sharing guitar-related stories like few others can. Paco Cepero He highlighted its strength and weight in the touch when he heard it.
With his musical artistry, he gives concerts throughout Spain and internationally, receiving rave reviews and critical acclaim. Examples include Málaga, Seville, Córdoba, Almería, Jerez de la Frontera, Vizcaya, Castellón, and Barcelona. The concert he gave as... A Tribute to the Flamenco Guitar of the national meeting organized by the Congress of Athenaeum Members, in which Paco de Lucía, Manolo Sanlucar and Paco Cepero received their respective honorary awards. He is part of the cast of artists who inaugurated the prestigious Tío Pepe Festival at the González Byass Winery in Jerez, entitled The art of the musessharing the stage with, among others, Rocío Márquez, Leonor Leal, Ruth Rosique or Rosa Torres-PardoIn 2017, he gave a concert in Seville as part of the series Women as transmitters of flamenco Organized by the Pablo de Olavide University, sharing the bill with artists such as Carmen Linares, The Susie o Antonia JiménezHe also lends his guitar to the successful show organized by José Luis Ortiz Nuevo, The Magnificent Seven, together with Belén Candil, Rocío López La Boterita, Alicia Morales and Chelo Soto, Lola Yang, Ana Pastrana and Isa RodríguezShe is the only guitarist in the cast of the play that fuses copla and flamenco, Woman by WomanThis latest show premieres at the Cartuja Center in March 2018 and also features Martyrdom, Hope Fernandez, La Tremendita, María Toledo and Beatriz Lanza.
"Together with her husband, Isaac Moreno, Davinia Ballesteros forms a perfect duo in which flamenco guitar playing finds its way through chords, strumming, and arpeggios. A combination of understated yet contemporary flamenco roots, without losing its rich charm of cadential nuances, perfect harmonies, or extraordinary modulations, transporting the listener to the true universe of the guitar."
We cannot leave out an event that changed her life. In Córdoba, she met Isaac Moreno in 2008. Isaac is the son of the Jerez-born maestro. Fernando MorenoAnd it was in 2010 that they began a romantic relationship. This relationship led Davinia to move to Jerez in 2011, leaving behind her job at the University of Málaga. They married in 2018 and had their first child, Bruno Moreno BallesterosShe arrives in 2025. Changes that lead to Davinia joining the teaching staff of the Fernando Moreno Guitar Schooltransmitting, just as Maestro Fernando did for so many years, the art not only of the Jerez guitar but of music in general. A pioneering center in the province of Cádiz with an impact that reaches as far as... Andalusian Documentation Center of the Flamenco.
Both his teaching and his work as a concert performer are published by various media outlets such as La Opinión, Diario Sur, Málaga Hoy, Diario de Jerez, Cadena Ser, Onda Cero, Onda Jerez, Sol TV o Radio Victoria Malaga. There's a lovely interview for El Mundo for his concert given at the biennial of Flamenco from Malaga from 2007. Or the interview with Diario Sur in a report by Women from Malaga in the FlamencoThe renowned digital magazine Guitar Fair It features a report on him in issue number 16 of its monthly edition. The guitar shop also... Felipe Conde for his website. He has a review entry in the book of Eulalia Pablo Lush Women Guitarists, from Signatura Ediciones. She is part of the artistic cast in the documentary film. Tocaoras, de Alicia Cifredo, for La Zanfoña Producciones. And he participates alongside artists of the stature of Paco Cepero, Diego del Morao o Manuel Parrilla in the recording of the CD of Pepe Marín posted by Flamenco and University degree Deep Memory.
Davinia Ballesteros is the first woman from Malaga to obtain a higher degree in Flamenco Guitar and her passion for it flamenco She takes her music to her recitals. Furthermore, she is the first female guitarist to perform at the Benalmádena Guitar FestApart from her gala at the London ParliamentShe travels with Isaac Moreno to locations in Japan and Paris. And a London-based production company is filming a documentary about the daily life of the Moreno Ballesteros family.
Davinia really enjoys playing guitar. Count Brothers which belongs to Fernando Moreno, his father-in-law, although he is very fond of the first handcrafted guitar he ever owned. A classical guitar by an Argentinian luthier based in Malaga. Joaquín García, which his father gave him.
Together with her husband, Isaac Moreno, she forms a perfect duo in which flamenco guitar playing emerges through chords, strumming, and arpeggios. It's a combination of understated yet contemporary flamenco roots, without losing its rich charm of cadences, perfect harmonies, and extraordinary modulations, transporting the listener to the true universe of the guitar. This is coupled with a comprehensive technique that allows Davinia and Isaac to deliver deeply moving and musical performances.
This master guitarist's playing embodies the union between classical guitar, more academic and artistic, and flamenco guitar, more wild and popular. She herself acknowledges that The classic style attributes to him a left-handedness that glides beautifully along the neckOn the other hand, his right hand was formed by the touch flamencoHe also believes that classical and musical training complements a guitarist. flamencoThrough this training, a guitarist opens his mind, breaks down barriers, or explains things that are overlooked due to lack of knowledge.
Davinia Ballesteros' guitar playing is not an isolated phenomenon. Her approach to flamenco, in flamenco terms, is truly profound. Rodeña, bulerías, alegrías, soleares, and fandangos from Huelva all demonstrate this. His explorations of the mast through tremolos, staccato, arpeggios, and deep cadences This has allowed our guitarist to perform in various national and international venues. A subtle touch combined with a refined, audible, and expressive technique is proof of a modern guitar that, from the classical, shakes the very foundations of the flamenco. His guitar is deep, without screws or gadgets. When Davinia takes the stage, it's just her and her guitar. She fuses yesterday and today through the truth of the melismatic harmony that emerges from her instrument. She evolves with mastery and sensitivity. She adapts her playing to the times in which she lives. She conveys emotions from flamenco orthodoxy with her own language: affectionate, elegant, serious, clean, and brimming with inspiration. A language flamenco whose touch cradles the freedom of its music through the purest Jerez rhythm. And above all, to receive true friendship from a teacher and her family is something truly wonderful. Thank you, Davinia. Thank you, Teacher. ♦
