FolkWorld #78 07/2022
© AnaAlcaide.com


‘Yezemi’ - a new composition sung in an invented language - delves into the essence of the project and into the 'rituals of connection': the power of the senses and the tools to connect ourselves to 'earth'.

Beauty, Dialogue & Encounter

Ana Alcaide

Artist Video Ana Alcaide @ FROG

www.anaalcaide.com

Ana Alcaide
Artist Audio
Ana Alcaide "Ritual", Own label, 2022

Ana Alcaide is a Spanish performer, composer and music producer who carries out research on ancient traditions andcultures. Her music is an invitation to build bridges between cultures and a call for tolerance through musicalfusion. For this artist, music is her vehicle “to reach beauty, dialogue and encounter”.

'RITUAL' (her sixth and latest album) is a mystical journey, a hymn to the power of connection through daily ritual actions. It was born from her personal encounter with the Iranian musician Reza Shayesteh and with Persian poetry.

This is an ambitious project that brings together musicians from Spain, Iran and the United States and which will tour some of the main festivals in Spain and Europe in the coming months. An essential project in the current context in which we live, an invitation to build bridges between cultures and a call for tolerance through musical fusion. For this composer, singer and instrumentalist, music is her vehicle "to reach beauty, dialogue and encounter".

With more than 500 concerts in some of the most important festivals, theaters and stages in Europe, America, Asia and Africa, she is one of the most recognized artists of the folk and world music scene at an international level. She has collaborated with artists such as Loreena McKennitt, Luis Cobos and Paco Ibáñez. In 2017, she collaborated with artist Loreena McKennitt on her album 'Lost souls'. 2019 brought her to the stage as guest artistin Loreena’s concert in the mythical Royal Albert Hall in London. That same year she collaborated with the composer and conductor Luís Cobos on his symphonic project 'Va por México' with a very personal version of 'Lallorona’.

Ana was also the director of 'Festival de Músicas del Mundo' in Toledo from 2016 to 2021. She is what is thought of as a pioneer in Spain in the dissemination of the ‘Nyckelharpa' - an ancient Swedish instrument capable of making the listener travel through time. With it, she has traveled the world, recovering the transforming power of music and its pedagogical value. Awarded several prizes such as the 'Medalla al Mérito Cultural de las Artes Escénicas y la Música de Castilla laMancha', her albums have been praised by the specialized international press, and her penultimate album, ‘Leyenda’, was recognized as ’Top of the World' (Songlines).

Ana lives in Toledo with her family and is the mother of 3 children.



‘Atashe del’ is one of the most thoughtful and introspective tracks of the album. in Ana´s words: 'it has been one of the songs that I have worked on and polished the most, an authentic work of “musical goldsmithing” in which I have had great and beloved collaborators'.


‘Ecstasi’ is a frenetic, euphoric and fun song about movement and its transformation - it has been filmed in the streets of Toledo.



Photo Credits: (1ff) Ana Alcaide (unknown/website).


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