Email List Sign-up

Email List Sign-up

Social Media

Calendar Preview

Previous events

Feb15

Juanito and Friends (Free Concert)

HVCC, Troy, NY

Free Noontime Concert. Featuring Jose Moreno, Brad Barrett and dancer Neli Tirado, and SPECIAL GUEST Jorge Pardo.

Jonathan “Juanito” Pascual is an internationally recognized guitarist and “flamenco phenom” (The Boston Globe). His sound is a truly organic blend of masterful traditional and contemporary flamenco with influences ranging from Jimi Hendrix and the Grateful Dead to Miles Davis and J.S. Bach. Juanito brings together global audiences through his mesmerizing virtuosity, original composition style, dedication to music as a global communicator, and passion for collaboration. Energized by the desire to share the beauty and soul-stirring power of flamenco, with its ancient roots, yet vibrant and evolving tradition, Juanito’s performances, recordings, and workshops reverberate with infectious charisma. Recent highlights include a performance at TEDx Nashville, an international tour and appearance in a documentary film with Flamenco icon Jorge Pardo, and performances for film scores in his new home of Los Angeles. Receiving praise for the Juanito Pascual New Flamenco Trio album (2014), All About Jazz noted “Pascual manages to uphold and extend the traditions of flamenco music, creating something distinctive in the process,” a sentiment cherished by Pascual, a dedicated 21st-century musician.

---

Born in Minneapolis, MN in 1973, Juanito Pascual is recognized in both Spain and the United States as a unique and creative flamenco and jazz performer.  Juanito has performed in many of the internationally best-known fine arts centers, clubs, and festivals including Lincoln Center, the 92nd St. Y, Blue Note Jazz Club, DeBartolo Performing Arts Center at Notre Dame University, Philadelphia’s Kimmel Center, Panama Jazz Festival, and Madrid's Casa Patas. He has been featured in special events including concerts hosted by Jane Goodall in Panama, on Garrison Keillor’s Prairie Home Companion, and as a guest on National Public Radio's "The World" program among other television and radio programs.  In 2009, Juanito made his on-screen debut alongside Steve Martin and Andy Garcia in the 2009 film Pink Panther 2. He continued his film score work on a number of projects, including the 2016 Netflix biopic based on the life of Pope Francis, Call Me Francis.

 

Juanito’s 2014 album, Juanito Pascual New Flamenco Trio, is his third album and features bassist Brad Barrett and Grammy-nominated percussionist Tupac Mantilla. The Juanito Pascual New Flamenco Trio creates a sound that seamlessly merges flamenco with elements of jazz, world, rock, pop, and soul. Recorded and mixed by multi-Grammy-winning engineer Rob Griffin, the album featured diverse songs that allowed Juanito to express “a sound that has been percolating in me, in many ways since I was a teenager, and now all of the necessary pieces have finally come together in a way that is even better than I imagined.” 

 

A talented educator, Juanito regularly hosts workshops in various cities in the United States, the Middle East, Europe, and Central America. Juanito created and directed the annual summer Flamenco Institute at the New England Conservatory in Boston from 2005-2009. In 2011, his first method book was published, The Total Flamenco Guitarist (Alfred Press).

 

Juanito holds a Bachelor of Music in Contemporary Improvisation from New England Conservatory and won second prize in the 1996 New England Classical Guitar Competition. He has studied with Adam del Monte, Parrilla de Jerez, Manolo Sanlúcar, El Entri, jazz guitarist Gene Bertoncini, Boston-based maestro Dmitry Goryachev, and classical guitarists David Leisner and Eliot Fisk.

 

Valuing musicianship, creativity, and collaboration equally as tools to bring together international audiences, Juanito is a frequent collaborator with Spanish artists including Jorge Pardo, Alex Conde, and Isaac & Nino de los Reyes. He has also performed with Grammy-winning soprano Dawn Upshaw, jazz pianist Michel Camilo, Turkish multi-instrumentalist Omar Faruk Tekbilek, and Israeli cantor Emil Zrihan.

 

Through partnerships, Juanito has consistently sought ways to align his passion for music with environmental and social causes. Most notable is his ongoing collaboration with Earth Train, a Panamanian rainforest project which uses music and art as means to inspire and educate a new generation about environmental stewardship.

 

In 2003, Juanito completed his first album of all original flamenco compositions, Cosas en Común, to critical acclaim and frequent radio play in the U.S. and abroad. His second release, Language of the Heart (2009), is a tour de force of contemporary flamenco guitar music generously showcasing his talents as composer, arranger and producer, interwoven with the musical talents of famed flamenco, jazz, and world musicians.