José María Gallardo Del Rey interview - From the heart of Seville
Despite performing on the most prestigious stages around the world, José María Gallardo Del Rey is still very clearly impressed and inspired by Seville. When we meet online to talk about his upcoming performances in Australia, Gallardo Del Rey is entirely modest about his career and full of admiration for his hometown. His attitude is contagious.
“I’m in love with Seville,” I confess.
“Me too,” is his immediate reply.
He defines the immense majority of his music as being almost more Sevillian than Spanish. His first guitar teacher as a young child was a local flamenco guitarist found by his mother. It was a fortunate choice on her behalf, laying the foundation for his love of flamenco. Gallardo Del Rey then went on to study classical guitar in the Seville Conservatory, making his debut at the age of nine. But his original exposure to the world of flamenco guitar left its mark.
“When I finished my classical guitar studies in the Conservatory, I remained very interested in flamenco.”
Gallardo Del Rey grew up and continues to live near Seville’s idyllic Maria Luisa Park. He is nonchalant about the romantic imagery of his beginnings in the guitar world, describing it as “very normal” to take his guitar and go with friends to play in the park.
“In Seville it’s very easy to hear a guitar anywhere in the street. It’s a totally local instrument,” he notes.
Today Gallardo Del Rey is a leading authority on the guitar and a respected flamenco artist as well as composer. He has performed as a soloist and worked with prestigious flamenco artists as well as orchestras across the globe, bridging the boundaries between classical and flamenco genres. He is the first to admit that his career has been enriched by many important artists.
In 1990 Gallardo Del Rey was chosen to help Paco de Lucia prepare for his performance of the Concierto de Aranjuez. He went on to collaborate with other flamenco guitarists including Juan Manuel Cañizares, Rafael Riqueni and Miguel Angel Cortes, as well as flamenco singer Carmen Linares and dancer Maria Pagés.
Despite the global pandemic and the inevitable cancellations, in the last two years Gallardo Del Rey has continued to work abroad, including a tour to Japan in November 2021. He is now looking forward to returning to Australia, where he last performed in 2017. Australia “has a beautiful relationship with the guitar, Spanish music and flamenco,” he says.
Heading down under for the 2022 Adelaide Guitar Festival, Gallardo Del Rey will perform two distinct shows that demonstrate the breadth of his talent. His first performance is with the celebrated Melbourne flamenco group Arte Kanela and his second with a local string quartet, in which Gallardo Del Rey will perform his own composition Altamira as well as the world premiere of a piece written specifically for him by the Australian composer Gerard Brophy.
Even with his frequent travels, Gallardo Del Rey remains grounded in Seville and the influence of the city continues to imbue his music.
“My roots are in Seville, all my family are from Seville, generations and generations.”
“The colours of Seville and the beauty of the city is what always accompanies me when I’m composing.”
Gallardo Del Rey has succeeded in uniting classical and flamenco guitar and manages multiple roles as an artist, both performing and writing music as well as teaching. For him it has been a natural path. He considers himself lucky to be able to make a living through doing what he loves.
I am interested to know how he remains inspired with so many demands on him and his career.
“What inspires me most is the vocation… Since I was little I didn’t want to do anything else.”
The music continues to inspire him, as an interpreter, composer and teacher.
“I’m where the music needs me,” he says.
His advice to aspiring guitarists, classical and flamenco alike, is to study widely across the genres. He recommends that before playing solo guitar, students should gain a good training in accompanying flamenco singing and dancing, citing Paco de Lucia as an example of this. He also advises flamenco guitarists to study music theory and composition.
“You won’t stop being flamenco through having more knowledge. Flamenco is a style within music. But the music rules.”
Gallardo Del Rey will perform two shows in the 2022 Adelaide Guitar Festival:
El Corazón del Flamenco with Melbourne-based Arte Kanela, presented with support from Michael Abbott AO QC and Sue Crafter on 21 July and Origination on 24 July.
