In A Tribute to Sabicas, three generations of flamenco guitarists: Gerardo Núñez, Antonio Rey, and Álvaro Martinete, celebrate the flamenco guitarist whose 1959 recital at The Town Hall, transformed the flamenco guitar from dance accompaniment to the star of the show. Olga Pericet channels Sabica’s long-time performing partner, the legendary flamenco dancer Carmen Amaya.
World Music Institute is producing the tribute on the same historic stage at The Town Hall in Midtown, Manhattan; on Saturday, March 14, 2026 at 8pm. From $35. 🇪🇸
Tribute to Sabicas Artists
Gerardo Núñez
One of the most technical flamenco innovators of his generation after Paco de Lucía, Gerardo Núñez is a Flamenco Nuevo master who fuses flamenco, jazz, pop, and classical influences. He was born in Jerez de la Frontera, Spain in 1961.
Jazz is American, but we influence each other, and for some reason flamenco and jazz flow together naturally.
Antonio Rey
A two-time Latin Grammy winner, Antonio Rey is a modern flamenco master known for his tonal quality. You have no idea how much work goes into learning to make a beautiful tone on even one single note. To maintain that tone on flamenco runs is superhuman.
In 2025, his “Historias de un Flamenco” was Grammy-nominated for Best Global Music Album. That’s Grammy, not Latin Grammy. Rey was born in Madrid, Spain in 1981.
Álvaro Martinete
One of flamenco’s new generation, mentored by Gerardo Núñez who is also on the program, Martinete is known for stretching flamenco tradition into new music. His mentor is important because to become a master, you have to study with one. Martinete was born in Granada, Spain in 1995.
Olga Pericet
2018 Spanish National Dance Prize-winner is known for her perfect technique and ability to blend flamenco tradition with modern theatrical technique. Pericet was born in Córdoba, Spain in 1975.
In this tribute, Pericet channels Sabicas’ performing partner, the “Goddess of Flamenco” Carmen Amaya. Flamenco is intense, but Amaya was intense even for flamenco. They called her the “Human Volcano.” She changed flamenco by wearing men’s clothes and dancing the men’s zapateado as powerfully as a man. Part of Amaya’s legacy is her work in Spanish and Hollywood films, including the Academy Award-nominated “Los Tarantos” (1963).
Pericet’s new production “Baile Sonoro” uses her body as a musical instrument in conversation with the musicians. You can see it in New York at Repertorio Español this May. Dancers also converse with the musicians in Cuban rumba columbia and Puerto Rican bomba. In both, the lead drummer actually follows the dancer’s movement. With a great dancer, this flirty game is spectacular.
The Impact of Sabicas
Sabicas (Agustín Castellón Campos) is one of the artists who turned New York City into a global flamenco center.
After touring the Americas with legendary dancer Carmen Amaya, Sabica settled in New York in the early 1940s, in exile from the Spanish Civil War. Sabica turned his home into a hub for generations of flamenco artists who enjoyed the comfort of Spanish ways, shared ideas, and influenced each other.
That 1959 Sabicas concert changed the way flamenco is perceived and performed around the world. Nobody treated flamenco guitar as a solo instrument before. It always accompanied the dancers.
New York City’s theatrical heart and anything-is-possible attitude were the catalysts for moving flamenco out of the family home and flamenco bars, and letting the flamenco guitar stand alone on the world’s greatest stages.
Unleashing the guitar also eventually led to wonderful fusions like flamenco rock, flamenco jazz, flamenco house, and urban flamenco that have made flamenco more popular than ever.
Sabica recorded many flamenco albums in the States that are references for today’s flamenco guitarists. In 1970, he recorded “Rock Encounter” with Jeff Beck.
The Modern Guitar is a Spanish Instrument
The guitar’s omnipresence in American blues, jazz, country, folk, and rock might make you think the guitar is an American instrument, but it’s not.
The modern guitar is a Spanish instrument that was brought to the Americas during the Colonial Era. So all this American music we consider our own, actually has global roots.
In Spain, the guitar is descended from the medieval lute. The lute is descended from the fretless oud, which the Moors brought to Spain in the 700s. The Moorish oud is descended from Persian tanburs and possibly Mesopotamian and Egyptian bowl harps. Further east, the Chinese ruan and pipa are guitar cousins.
Humans are very good at copying and learning from each other. New York City is the world’s best place for this because everyone from everywhere is here, and everyone is welcome. We have always been a home for exiles. Let’s keep it that way.
Bienvenido a Nueva York. ¡Olé!
More World Music Institute productions.