A New Sketches of Spain
Tour
1.11.2026
Cantieri Teatrali KorejaBio
Choreography and dance: Israel Galván
Music performed live: Michael Leonhart – Trumpet + ensemble
Arrangement and Orchestration: Michael Leonhart
Music production: Alberto fabris
Sound: William Novati / Pedro León
Lights: Francesco Trambaioli
Production: Igalvan Company and Ponderosa Music & Art
“A mí quien me gusta cantando saetas es la Niña de los Peines y Miles Davis.”
– Enrique Morente
To mark the centenary of Miles Davis’s birth, “A New Sketches of Spain” returns.
Flamenco star Israel Galván, alongside American trumpeter Michael Leonhart and his ensemble, recreate a jazz milestone.
The Spain that Miles Davis and Gil Evans etched into a perfect record in New York in 1960, that Spain transfigured into music that still today possesses the eloquence and truth of dreams, finally returns home, to its natural heimat, in the flamenco splendor of Israel Galván: this is “A NEW SKETCHES OF SPAIN”.
LINE UP
Israel Galván – Dance and coreography
Michael Leonhart – Trumpet
Frei Addison Wood – Piano
Antonio Leofreddi – Viola
Gilberto Tarocco – Clarinet and bass clarinet
Carlo Nicita – Flute
Mattia Boschi – Cello
Daniel Freedman – Percussion
Israel Galván
His dance is supernatural, not only for his virtuosity as a performer but for his relentless pursuit of an excess, a surplus, a disproportion between human gesture and what music—or silence—cannot express.
Here is Andalusia: dust and light, violet skies and shadows black as a bible. Here is Aranjuez: the intoxication of melancholy, the noonday demon, the mourning of gardens. Here are the Holy Week processions, the ritual songs from balconies, the tormented and proud solitude. Emotions embodied in the impetus of a single polyphonic body.
Israel Galván is a flamenco innovator, renowned for creating a unique expressive style that combines fragmented movements with contemporary elements, expanding the traditional language of dance. Winner of the National Dance Prize in 2005, he has received important international awards such as the Bessie Award, the Medalla de Oro al Mérito en las Bellas Artes and the title of Officier de l’Ordre des Arts et des Lettres.
Born into a family of Sevillian dancers, Galván began his career in the Compañía Andaluza de Danza in 1994, collaborating with leading artists. Since his first show in 1998, ‘¡Mira! / Los Zapatos Rojos’, he has revolutionised flamenco with works such as ‘La Edad de Oro’ and ‘Lo Real’. In recent years, he has explored new artistic territories with shows such as ‘Torobaka’ and ‘Carmen’ (2024), and interdisciplinary collaborations ranging from cinema to robotics. A leading figure in modern dance, he is also an Associate Artist of the Théâtre de la Ville de Paris.
Michael Leonhart
If Gil Evans, in Miles’ words, had managed to make an orchestra sound like a single guitar, the arrangement and orchestration by Michael Leonhart for the small ensemble produced by Alberto Fabris reveal even more clearly the movement of rhythms and harmonic constellations, the purity of melodies, the indestructible power of the ancient Arabic scales that dig, bend, and twist into the soul like an Andalusian blues.
After all, Spain has never left this place, this first hybridization of black Africa in a music that, centuries later, would be called jazz.
Michael Leonhart is a talented trumpet player, composer and producer from New York, known for his versatility and ability to range between different musical genres, from jazz to pop and experimental music. He conducts the Michael Leonhart Orchestra (MLO), with which he has collaborated with prominent artists such as Nels Cline, Bill Frisell and Donny McCaslin, and most recently with Elvis Costello on the album ‘The Normyn Suites’.
Awarded a Grammy at the age of 17, he has collaborated with renowned artists such as David Byrne, Mark Ronson, and Steely Dan, for whom he was also arranger and conductor for the Grammy-winning album ‘Two Against Nature’. In addition to releasing seven solo albums and two with MLO, he has worked on soundtracks, television projects and musicals such as ‘Fela!’. His career is characterised by relentless musical exploration and collaborations that consolidate his role as an influential figure in contemporary music.
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