Rocío Márquez

Rocío Márquez (Huelva, 1985) is one of the most important figures in 21st-century flamenco music. As a cantaora, she carries on the legacy of the genre’s great innovators. With three decades of artistic experience, she combines scholarly rigor, creative vision, and interpretative excellence. The result is a vital contribution that has positioned flamenco at the cutting edge of contemporary music.

 

Rocío places her vocal mastery at the service of a restless artistic spirit, one that pushes beyond the traditional boundaries of flamenco without dogma or attachment. For her, jondo tradition is a source of inspiration and a launching pad. She experiments with melodies, instrumentation, arrangements, lyrics, vocal textures, and the very physicality of flamenco.

 

Her discography charts an intimate, inner journey — a manifesto of freedom and experimentation. Her albums include: Aquí y ahora (2009), Claridad (2012), El Niño (2014), Firmamento (2017), Diálogo de viejos y nuevos sones (with Fahmi Alqhai, 2018), Visto en El Jueves (2019), Omnia vincit amor (with Enrike Solinís, 2020), Flamencos: Falla, Albéniz, Granados (with Rosa Torres Pardo, 2022), and Tercer cielo (with Bronquio, 2022). Flamenco is always the starting point, where she draws on the rhythmic, lyrical, and melodic structures of bulerías, rumba, pregón, seguiriyas, tangos, garrotín, milonga, debla, toná, soleá, and verdiales. Each of these palos is then reworked through various styles of electronic music, including techno, electro, and breakbeat. The result is an electrifying collision of past and future that transcends musical genres — hailed in Spain as one of the albums of the year, “destined to mark an era” (El País).

 

Another central element of Rocío’s work is her commitment to opening flamenco up to dialogue with other musical styles. She ventures into baroque and classical music, Spanish and Latin American folk, urban and electronic genres, jazz, singer-songwriter traditions, pop, rock, and contemporary music. This openness is reflected in collaborations with notable artists such as Jorge Drexler, Christina Rosenvinge, and Kiko Veneno.

 

In May 2025, Rocío unveils her new album, Himno Vertical — a profound exploration of flamenco roots intertwined with the power of classical and contemporary poetry. The album features an intense and expressive repertoire of fandangos, tangos, verdiales, soleá, seguiriya, malagueña, and bulerías, including original lyrics and three musical adaptations of poems by William Shakespeare, Juan de la Encina, and Friedrich Schiller.

 

PRESS QUOTES 

 

“One of the most important voices in contemporary flamenco.” PÚBLICO 

 

“An album that will certainly mark an era” EL PAÍS

 

“Alternative, transgressive and erudite flamenco” LE MONDE

 

“Rocío is at the peak of her career” MONDOSONORO 

 

“Rocío Márquez, the jewel of flamenco.” LE MONDE

 

Spotify

Clipping

View my Flipboard Magazine.

Newsletter