Accompanying Cante

A personal message from Samuel:

Today marked the conclusion of an amazing set of creative experiences!

As many of you know, back in January 2019 Arts Council England awarded me a £10,000 'Developing Your Creative Practice' grant. This grant was given in order to allow me the chance to study the art of accompanying flamenco singing 'el cante' in Spain.

Since receiving this grant I've traveled to Spain on a number of occasions over the past 12 months. In that time I've explored cante accompaniment with some of Andalucía's finest flamenco singers, including Antonio Aparecida and the multi award winning Amparo Heredia “La Repompilla”.

My last set of cante accompaniment masterclasses took place this week in London. The above photo was taken shortly after we finished our final session yesterday.

What an amazing journey the past year has been! I've learnt so much, interacted with some truly great artists and seen and experienced many wonderful things! In short, this opportunity has been a life changing experience and consequently, I'm deeply humbled that thanks to the generosity of Arts Council England, I've been able to do this!

My sincere thanks to Arts Council England, Juan and Helen Martín and all the amazing singers I have worked with!

I would also like to take the time to thank all the good people who supported my grant application when I submitted it in 2018. Particularly, I would like to thank all those who kindly provided me with written references.

Though I'm sad that my Arts Council funded cante studies have now concluded, I'm very much looking forward to spending the rest of my life building on the amazing opportunities the past 12 months have afforded me.

*This project is supported using public funding by Arts Council England: www.artscouncil.org.uk