Flamenco and the Avant-garde: Their Past and Present

The talk, “Flamenco and the Avant-garde: Their Past and Present” was held in November 18, 2018 at the Inamori Center. Hiroshi Yoshioka (Professor, KRC) moderated the event.

The lecturer, Miguel Alvarez Fernandez is a modern music composer from Spain. He is currently a music radio DJ on Spanish National Radio. Flamenco, a type of traditional music, is so famous in Japan that there are many flamenco groups and classes across the country. However, it is not well-known what flamenco really is, when it started or how it developed. Unknown elements surround flamenco, not only for ordinary people but also for experts in Spanish music.

In this lecture, the development of flamenco was presented in the context of Spanish history. It introduced examples of flamenco from old music sources and movies, as well as an experiment which used modern avant-garde flamenco with AI.

Some of the questions that arose during the discussion session included, “what does flamenco look like when it has been passed down in the family?”, “What is the relationship between flamenco, society, and politics?” and “What is orthodox flamenco like?”
Participants requested more events like this in the future.

Hiroshi Yoshioka, Professor

Miguel Alvarez Fernandez

〔Event Information〕

2018/12/19