Melón Jiménez & Lara Wong with Special Guest - Alcvin Ryūzen Ramos

Award-winning flutist and bansuri player, Lara Wong and flamenco guitarist, Melón Jiménez, make flamenco their universal musical language to traverse musical territories. Their music ebbs and flows with elegance and emotion, perfectly fusing the soul of flamenco with the harmonic brilliance of jazz and the rhythmic improvisations of Indian music. The groundbreaking couple first met on stage in 2018 in the flamenco jazz capital of Madrid, and ever since then, they have continued to grace audiences worldwide.

Lara Wong is a distinctive and promising voice in the world music scene. After completing her degree in classical and jazz performance at McGill University, Lara went to study flamenco in its birthplace, Andalucia. Today, she is a prominent figure in the flamenco scene and is known for adapting the Indian bansuri flute into flamenco. In 2021, Lara made history when she won the first prize award for best flamenco instrumentalist at the Festival Cante de las Minas, making her the first foreign prize winner in the festival's 60 year history. Lara has played in festivals across Canada and Europe and has collaborated with artists like, Tino di Geraldo, Juan Andres Maya, and Pepe Rivero. In 2022, she released her first album, Rosa de los Vientos, which was produced by Melón Jiménez.

Guitarist Melón Jiménez is both devoted to the tradition of his Andalusian gypsy roots and to the innovation of the flamenco guitar. Having been born into a musically and culturally diverse family, (his mother, a German classical pianist and his father, a flamenco guitarist from Jerez), Melón developed a unique style of playing, incorporating all of the different techniques and sounds he experienced over the years. His musical versatility has led to collaborations with artists of all genres such as: Anoushka Shankar, Enrique Morente, Richard Bona, Niña Pastori, and Jorge Pardo. Melón was also a finalist in several  competitions such as the Paco de Lucia Awards and the National Flamenco Competition in Cordoba. He released his second album, Ecos de Magerit, in October 2022.

Alcvin Ryuzen Ramos is a teacher, performer, and maker of the shakuhachi and fue based out of the Sunshine Coast of BC, Canada. Born and trained in Japan, Alcvin is also a genre-bridging multi-instrumentalist (shamisen, fue, shinkin) and recording artist with several CDs of traditional and contemporary music to his name. He has performed nationally and internationally, and has shared the stage with many distinguished musicians and artists of various disciplines including dance, theatre, painting, poetry, sculpture, and fashion. Alcvin lives on the Sunshine Coast of BC where he teaches and makes meditation jinashi shakuhachi flutes, and leads the Shakuhachi Roots Pilgrimage to Japan every few years.

Alcvin also creates unique, hand-made shakuhachi-inspired jewellery made from bamboo roots which he harvests from Japan and the Sunshine Coast of Canada.

Doors: 6:30 p.m.  Show: 7:00 p.m.

Ticket is non-refundable