{"id":43,"date":"2026-09-19T17:07:13","date_gmt":"2026-09-19T22:07:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/alonsovillamusic.com\/sobre-mi\/"},"modified":"2026-09-19T17:07:13","modified_gmt":"2026-09-19T22:07:13","slug":"sobre-mi","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/alonsovillamusic.com\/en\/sobre-mi\/","title":{"rendered":"About me"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n
\n
\n

About me<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Alonso Villa<\/h1>\n\n\n\n

Percussionist, qanun player, composer and university lecturer in Medell\u00edn. I take flamenco and Arabic music to stages in Colombia and around the world.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n
Take a class<\/a><\/div>\n\n\n\n
Write to me<\/a><\/div>\n\n\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n
\n
\"Alonso<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n
<\/i><\/i><\/i><\/i><\/i><\/i><\/i><\/i><\/i><\/i><\/i><\/i><\/i><\/i><\/i><\/i><\/i><\/i><\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n
\n
\n
\n

01 \u2014 How it began<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I went along to my mother's rehearsals and sat watching how they played and how they danced.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

\n

At fourteen I walked onto a stage for the first time with a flamenco caj\u00f3n, at the Teatro Efra\u00edn Arce Arag\u00f3n, alongside the group La Jarana. Today I am its musical director.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I play flamenco caj\u00f3n, darbuka, qanun, guitar, oud, kawala and other Arabic percussion instruments. I teach Arabic percussion, flamenco caj\u00f3n and qanun, I lecture at university, and I am still studying: I am finishing a Master's in Arts with the research project Sonidos Danzantes<\/em>.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

\n
\n
\n

14<\/p>\n\n\n\n

years old at my first performance<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

\n

6+<\/p>\n\n\n\n

instruments I play<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

\n

8<\/p>\n\n\n\n

countries I have performed in<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

\n

1.\u00aa<\/p>\n\n\n\n

the country's flamenco-Arabic orchestra, La Jarana, which I direct<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

\n
\n

02 \u2014 What matters to me<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Music to learn, to dance and to live by<\/h2>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n
\n
\n

Students<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That they truly learn, and reach a professional level.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

\n

Dancers<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That they have pieces genuinely shaped around what they need.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

\n

Musicians<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That they can get hold of good darbukas.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

\n

Culture<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Bringing flamenco and Arabic music into our own context.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

\n

Everyone<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That music becomes part of people's lives.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

I work with adults and children, beginners and professionals, stage and screen artists, music producers and dancers. The way I teach bends to what each student wants to achieve.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

\n
\n
\n
\"La<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n
\n

03 \u2014 The orchestra<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The country's first flamenco-Arabic orchestra<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

It began as a flamenco group in 2000. In 2007 the Arabic orchestra took shape, and with it have come countless concerts, locally and across the country.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The two line-ups together form the Orquesta Flamenco-\u00e1rabe La Jarana, which has played in theatres across the country \u2014 Teatro Universidad de Medell\u00edn, Teatro Pablo Tob\u00f3n Uribe, Teatro Municipal de Cali and others \u2014 and in Egypt is recognised as a leading voice for its culture in Colombia. Its productions include arrangements of well-known film and series soundtracks for Arabic music, using instruments native to the Middle East, along with their rhythms and musical character, to give those soundtracks a sound of their own.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

\n
\n

04 \u2014 Track record<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On stage<\/h2>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n
\n
\n

2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Performances and workshops in Washington DC and Texas. Qanun player at the Un Pedacito de Mundo festival, Mexico. Concerts in Colombia in various line-ups.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

\n

2025<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Qanun player and workshop leader at the Crazy Nights festival, Egypt. Percussionist and workshop leader in Washington DC.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

\n

2024<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Percussionist at the Un Pedacito de Mundo festival, Mexico. Musical director of the La Jarana Flamenco-Arabic Gathering.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

\n

2023<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Composer and performer of the work Yo, Meira Delmar<\/em> in Costa Rica. Musical director of the La Jarana Flamenco-Arabic Gathering.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

\n

2022<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Yo, Meira Delmar<\/em> in the United Arab Emirates, the Ibero-American Theatre Festival and the International Carnival of the Arts.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

\n

2020\u201321<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Online performances with organisations all over the country.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

\n

2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Musical director of the La Jarana Flamenco-Arabic Gathering.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

\n

Earlier<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Latinarabian in Argentina, Cairo Band in Ecuador, the Antolog\u00eda de la Zarzuela Espa\u00f1ola, and the score for Las mil y una noches<\/em> with storyteller Leonardo Mu\u00f1oz, winners in 2017.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

\n
\n
\n

05 \u2014 Training<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Where I learned<\/h2>\n\n\n\n