ANA ALCAIDE – SPAIN–
Medal of Cultural Merit in Performing Arts, Castilla-La Mancha, 2017
"Brave, feminine, and wonderful" – Songlines, United Kingdom
"A global and timeless sound" – El Mundo, Spain
"Musical explorer of another era" – El País, Spain
"Fabulous magic, a journey through time" – La Bible Urbaine, Canada
"Exquisite planning and execution" – World Music Central, USA
Ana Alcaide: explorer of hidden treasures
Spanish performer, composer, and music producer who carries out research on ancient traditions and cultures. “Her music transports us to distant lands, ancestral times, and magical places. It is an invitation to build bridges between cultures and a call for tolerance through musical fusion. For Ana Alcaide, music is her vehicle ‘to reach beauty, dialogue, and encounter’.”
‘RITUAL’ (her sixth and latest album – March 2022) is a mystical journey, a hymn to the power of connection through everyday ritual actions. It was born from her personal encounter with Iranian musician Reza Shayesteh and with Persian poetry. The album received strong international acclaim from the specialized press, reaching the Top 3 of the European World Music Charts, among others. This highly personal work has been brought to the stage as an ambitious show that gathers artists from Spain, Iran, and the United States, and also embraces dance, visual arts, and poetry.
En 2016 she premieres ‘LEYENDA’ a new musical and stage production inspired by legends and mythologies of ancestral women, exploring the strength of the feminine from a contemporary perspective. This work marked an evolution in the presentation of her music, bringing a new scenic dimension.
With this show, she toured extensively across Spain, with notable performances at major festivals and leading theaters. The enthusiastic reception from the specialized press led her to perform at WOMEX 2018, which was followed by several international tours in Portugal, Belgium, France or Malaysia.
In 2015 she launched the series ‘Tales of Pangea’, a project born from her collaborations and personal experiences with musicians from different parts of the world. The first recording – ‘Gotrasawala Ensemble’ – took place on the island of Java (Indonesia) after extended periods of musical and cultural exchange with local musicians, and it remained on the World Music Charts from June to September 2015. ‘Tales of Pangea’ has sparked great interest and amazement from both the press and audiences – not only for its musical outcome, but also for its concerts.
Her musical career began ‘accidentally’ while she was finishing her degree in biology: Ana traveled to Sweden, where she discovered the nyckelharpa. She fell in love with the instrument and began playing it self-taught on the streets of Toledo, far from its original tradition. Her music has been described as the “soundtrack of Toledo.”
From 2016 to 2021 she was the artistic director of the Toledo World Music Festival. In 2017 she collaborated on Loreena McKennitt’s album ‘Lost souls’ and also took part in her special concert recorded at the Royal Albert Hall in London, in addition to joining her European tours
