Artist Roster 2024

Nick Wickstrom "El Guapo" is a musician and artist from Boston. After a several year love-affair with producing Shadow Puppetry works, his focus shifted after being enchanted by the music of Paco de Lucia, Vicente Amigo, and Diego del Morao. In October 2021, in pursuit of the pure sources of flamenco, he traveled to Jerez de la Frontera and auspiciously encountered Juan Junquera Cortes on his first night. They initially developed a strong mentor/apprentice relationship, and have been close creative collaborators ever since. This year's festival is the result of the infectious joy of flamenco found in Jerez de la Frontera.

Nick has been teaching guitar to all levels and styles for over 15 years. Beyond directing and coordinating the festival, Nick is also writing an epic shadow puppet story to be performed with flamenco, and currently working to establish Boston's first flamenco 'tablao', or flamenco bar.

Juan Junquera Cortés has been working as a professional flamenco guitarist for over 35 years, accompanying Manuel Borrico, Pepe de la Joaquina ‘El Faraón’, Maria Terremoto, and Jesus Mendez among others. He was also featured in a flamenco tour to NYC with Moraito Chico. For the past three decades, Juan has been teaching flamenco guitar in Jerez de la Frontera, and hosts a 10-day intensive program every year during the Festival de Flamenco de Jerez in February.

As a teacher, Juan is a master at implanting foundational techniques for the right hand of the student, and excels at teaching the feeling and expression that is the essence of flamenco guitar.

Saray García was born in Jerez de la Frontera to a gypsy family. Since she was very little, a great interest and curiosity for flamenco awoke in her. At just 7 years old, she Saray began to receive classes from the Jerez-born teacher Ana María López. Years later, and still under the tutelage of Ana María, Saray became part of the flamenco group Semilla Flamenca, with which she performed at festivals such as the Festival de Mont de Marsant (France), Fiesta de la Bulería (Jerez) and the Flamenco Fridays of Jerez, among many others. Over the years, Saray decides to expand her knowledge by receiving flamenco dance classes from renowned artists such as the Farruco Family, Juan Amaya, Rocío Molina or Joselito Romero. Saray soaks up all of them and each one gives her a nuance to continue painting her dance and her art.
 

She was also the first dancer of the equestrian show El Arte de Andalucía a Caballo, a production with which she traveled throughout most of Spain.

Saray combines classes with performances at the main 'tablaos' in Jerez such as Lagá de Tio Parrilla, La Taberna Flamenca and Bereber; in Seville in Los Gallos and El Arenal; in Madrid at Carboneras and in Barcelona, at Tablao Flamenco Cordobes.

Juan Zarzuela “Zarzuelita” is a singer, flamenco historian and composer decorated in accomplishments that cannot fit on this page. Known as the singer "Zarzuelita de Jerez”, his flamenco life actually began dancing with the teacher Angelita Gómez. It did not take long to direct his professional career towards cante. At only thirteen years old, he performed in the 'Viernes Flamencos' cycle in Jerez and won first prize in the bulería singing contest of the Peña Chato on the island of Cádiz.

Juan holds Master's degrees in Flamencology and Flamenco Cante from the University of Córdoba, and is currently professor of cante at the University of Cádiz.

Fabio Pirozzolo is an Italian drummer, multi-percussionist and singer currently based in Boston, Massachusetts. Originally from Terracina, Italy, he started his career as a folk percussionist, playing Italian frame drums tamburello and tammorra, in one of the most famous folk groups in his area. This experience gave him the opportunity to travel throughout Europe, playing concerts and giving lectures on regional Italian frame drum techniques.

Fabio is the co-founder of the world music ensembles Sawaari and Grand Fatilla and Italian folk music ensemble Newpoli. Highly in demand both as a drummer and as percussionist, he’s currently the drummer for  Vanessa Trien and The Jumping Monkeys and the Union United Methodist Church Band. He’s also the percussionist for Revma Greek Ensemble and Musaner.

Fabio has taught master classes at Berklee, Harvard and Tufts University and worked at Emerson College and Boston Conservatory as an accompanist for dance classes. He’s the author of the drum transcriptions for Skip Hadden’s drum books "Profiles in Jazz Drumming" and "Broken Eight’s Time Feel". His transcriptions were featured on the Italian drum magazine "Batteria e Percussioni", "Batteria", "Percussionista" and on Polish drum magazine "Top Drummer".

Yosi Karahashi left Japan to fulfill her dream of studying flamenco and ended up staying in Spain for 17 years, studying at the legendary flamenco school Amor de Dios in Madrid, with renowned artists like Merche Esmeralda, Manuel Reyes, Immaculada Ortega, Truco, Maria Juncal, Adrian Sanchez, la Lupi, Farruquito and Antonio Canales.

Yosi moved to Boston in 2012, and since then has been a very active teacher and performer, collaborating with many participants of the Greater Boston dance scene, such as The Dance Complex, Green Street Studios, The Boston Foundation, The New England Conservatory, Deborah Mason School of Dance, Jose Mateo Dance Theatre, Peter Dimuro's company, Celebrity Series of Boston and Boston Landmarks Orchestra among many others. She also acted as an artistic adviser and choreographer for skaters on the Theater on Ice in Boston, which won a silver medal at an international contest in France 2019.
 

Yosi founded Flamenco Therapy, a non-profit organization dedicated to bringing flamenco to those who need it the most: the elderly, the sick, and children who cannot access music and dance themselves. Also collaborated with Kara Fili at the Dance Complex and Citywide Cambridge Senior Center bringing flamenco to dancers over 60 or with limited mobility at the Age-friendly dance class which provides "senior citizens" (as a person over the age of 60 with a wide range of emotional, physical and learning disabilities) a specialized, fun and engaging flamenco experience.

Yosi firmly believes that Flamenco is not just a dance, but a way of life, there should be no limits for expression and that it should be shared with everybody. With this in mind, she started to use sign language in her Flamenco performances. For Yosi the art of flamenco is a way to communicate.