His name is Carmona, like his distant cousins of the Habichuelas dynasty of Granada, all guitarists. In 1963, one year after the exile, he was born in Lyons, France.
Juan Carmona was barely 10 when his father gave him his first guitar. His virtuosity became quickly apparent to professional musicians and it was only a matter of time before he began reaching international acclaim.
Juan Carmona soon felt the urge to return to the land of his ancestors, to go back to his roots and get filled with family source – Jerez de la Frontera in Andalusia – with the personal challenge of obtaining recognition of the originality of his art in the town considered as the cradle of flamenco. And he won his bet: for more than eight years he rubbed elbows with the greatest names in flamenco: singers Agujetas, Duquende, Terremoto Hijo, Capuyo de Jerez, Rubichi, Antonio y Manuel Malenas, Jesus Monje (Camaron de la Isla’s brother), Jose Mendez… ; dancers Joaquin Grilo, María del Mar Moreno, Ana Parilla, Angelita y Joselito Vargas, Joselito Fernández. He also recorded with Chano Dominguez, Rubem Dantas, Manolito Soler, Tino di Geraldo, etc.
Soon, Carmona emerged as a prominent figure in flamenco. In 1988, he awarded first prize in the Jerez de la Frontera International Competition, and was one of the finalists in the Union and Córdoba Guitar Competition. In 1989, he obtained a diploma from the Jerez Flamenco Foundation, awarded by the guitarist Manolo Sanlucar. In 1990, he won the Villa Médicis Hors Les Murs Award, the Don Antonio Chacon Trophy, awarded for his “peña flamenca”, and in 1992 the Lavoisier Award. In 1994, he finally achieved the ultimate laureate : First prize in the Madrid Paco de Lucia Competition.
Besides his many concert achievements, awards and relationships in the guitar world, this French-born gipsy added further distinction to his career: gathering a permanent triumph in Spain, particularly in Andalusia where he created upheaval in the flamenco world. His stay in Spain gave birth to his recording “Borboreo”, tribute to the city of Jerez, under the artistic direction of Isidro Muñoz.
Since his return to France in 1996, Juan Carmona experienced an endless series of concert engagements and did numerous recordings. After working with a fabulous band of musicians representing a wide range of musical genres such as Mino Cinelu, Al Di Meola, Biréli Lagrène, Larry Coryell, Babik Rheinhart, Philip Catherin, Sylvain Luc, to name just a few in the area of jazz ; Subramanian in Indian music ; singer Matlubeth (Uzbekistan) ; and participating to numerous film soundtracks, (La belle Histoire, Cuisines et Dépendances, Sables Mouvants).
A programme was dedicated to him in Arte en October 1998, presented by the big master Lord Yehudi Menuhin for who Juan Carmona is an exceptional guitarist.
Juan Carmona set up his own group: the Juan Carmona Grupo, staging shows throughout France and abroad, forging himself an international musical career: USA, Germany, Italy, England, Morocco, Russia, Holland, Hungary… in addition to performances in major music festivals such as the Montreal Jazz Festival (07) and the Festival Jazz à Vienne (07) or the Montreal Jazz Festival.
His creation “Sinfonía Flamenca” (creation for flamenco guitar and classical orchestra) is now interpreted all around the world: the Russian Philarmony, the St-Louis Symphonic Orchestra (United States), The Norwegian Radio Orchestra, Lyon National Orchestra….
Elected by the highest flamenco’s figures, Juan Carmona roams across aerial ways of the duende. His guitar provides continuity between musical “modernity” and one of the oldest living flamenca’s traditions of Andalusia. On tour around the world (The United States, China, Canada…) his three last albums, Orillas, Sinfonía Flamenca and El Sentido del Aire were nominated to the Latin Grammy Awards category “Best Album Flamenco of the year” in 2003, 2006 and 2010.
His new album “Alchemya” (2013) is a real musical self-portrait.
Juan Carmona has undeniably proven being one of the most creative. His playing is surprising and always moving. Somewhere between profound awareness of musical genres, traditional styles and a devastating modernity, Juan Carmona stands as an innovator of his generation.