ALEJANDRO HURTADO

"After working throughout my professional career with the best guitarists of my time, starting with Niño Ricardo and including the brilliant Paco de Lucía, I can attest to Alejandro Hurtado's enormous guitaristic ability, and I have no doubt that he is destined to occupy a privileged place in the world of flamenco guitar."

Antonio Fernández Díaz, "Fosforito"

Despite his youth, his exceptional technique, clean execution, and incredible expressive power allow him to convey the most intense sensations to the audience every minute he is on stage. If we add to this his creative talent, as demonstrated by his compositions for solo guitar, we can undoubtedly say that Alejandro Hurtado, more than a promise of the guitar, is already one of the most outstanding performers of concert flamenco guitar of our time.

The fascination that Alejandro achieves in each of his performances is due to the combination of exceptional musical talent and an incredible work ethic, which leads him to a continuous search for improvements, new ideas, and new elements, in pursuit of perfection in what has been his passion since childhood: the concert flamenco guitar.

Alejandro aims to give maximum prominence to the instrument he is passionate about and that he masters like no other, avoiding the easy route of incorporating other elements on stage.

Therefore, his performances showcase a rare simplicity of elements in today's flamenco guitar concerts. In a way, he seeks to connect with the tradition of old guitarists, such as Montoya, Niño Ricardo, or Sabicas, vindicating the role of the concert guitar as a solo instrument.

This challenging feat can only be achieved thanks to a solid musical education, which began at the age of 9 when he started playing classical guitar with Marco Uceda before enrolling shortly after at the "Vicente Lillo Cánovas" Professional Conservatory of Music and Dance in San Vicente del Raspeig (Alicante), his hometown, where he studied with Professor Raúl Juan Ruíz. At the same time he was studying classical guitar, he was also learning flamenco guitar from Pedro Alarcón, Roberto Sabater, David Cerreduela, and later, from the legendary guitarist Arturo Cerreduela "El Nani," from whom he learned the secrets of Caño Roto guitar. During these years, he also received lessons from the greatest masters of flamenco guitar: Manolo Sanlúcar, José Antonio Rodríguez, El Viejín, Juan Manuel Cañizares, Rafael Riqueni, Jerónimo Maya, Manolo Franco, José Luis Montón...

After completing his middle school studies, he decided to continue studying flamenco guitar, his true passion, by enrolling in the Superior Conservatory of Music in Córdoba for further studies with teachers like Paco Serrano or Manolo Franco, while also continuing to study classical guitar with Professor Pablo Barón. In 2017, he completed his studies with a degree with honors and an extraordinary end-of-degree award. The same qualification was obtained in the Flamenco Master's program at ESMUC (Barcelona).

His immense talent has earned him more than a dozen awards, with the first ones obtained at the age of just 12, culminating in the most important award in concert flamenco guitar: the Bordón Minero, obtained in 2017 after several years in which this award had been declared vacant.

His mastery as an accompanist guitarist has led him to perform alongside the greatest contemporary singers. This includes Mayte Martin, whom he accompanied for years and for whose shows "Déjá vú" and "Memento" he also provided arrangements. He has recently joined as an accompanist for Miguel Poveda. In the case of dance, his performances alongside Inmaculada Salomón, the first dancer of the National Ballet of Spain, stand out.

However, where his quality as a guitarist can truly be appreciated is in his increasingly frequent appearances as a solo guitarist. Undoubtedly, his classical training has influenced his playing with an unusual precision among flamenco guitarists, all while maintaining the purity of his flamenco touch, recognized by audiences in the most traditional venues of this art, such as the Fosforito Center in Córdoba or the La Platería Peña in Granada.

His performances have taken him across Spain and to countries including France, Belgium, the Netherlands, Italy, and Romania, at important events such as the Cordoba Guitar Festival, the International Guitar Festival of Granada, the Flamenco Circle of Madrid, the "Le Temps des Guitares" Festival in Puy l'Évêque (France), Suma Flamenca in Madrid, and the White Night of Flamenco in Córdoba. He has recently begun solo performances with orchestras, performing the Concerto de Aranjuez at venues like the Teatro Real in Madrid, the National Auditorium in Madrid, the Auditorium in Zaragoza, and the Gran Teatro de Córdoba, among others.

Aside from several recordings as an accompanist and film soundtracks, he has recently released two solo albums, each in very different styles. "Maestros del arte clásico flamenco" (Masters of Classical Flamenco Art) is the title of the first, released in 2022, which has had a significant impact among specialized critics and enthusiasts. In this work, he has compiled a series of compositions by Ramón Montoya and Manolo de Huelva, recorded with their original instruments. The second album, titled "Tamiz" (Sieve), will be released in 2023 and includes his own compositions, known for their quality and pure style, showcasing his mastery and connection with the flamenco tradition while maintaining his own contemporary language.

AWARDS

-Third Prize at the International Guitar Competition "José Tomás" in Petrer (2006).

-First Prize in the Valencian Community at the Veo Veo Awards (2008).

-National Third Prize at the Veo Veo Awards (2008).

-First Prize in the "Ciudad de Alcoy" Flamenco Guitar Competition (2010).

-First Prize in the "Flamenco en el Aire" Flamenco Guitar Competition in Radio Nacional de España (2012).

-First Prize in the "Paco de Lucía" International Guitar Competition (2015).

-First Prize in the "Cante de las Minas" International Guitar Competition (2017).