Manolo Franco

Manuel Franco Barón, also known as “Manolo Franco” (his stage name), was born in Sevilla in 1960. Aged 15, he started his brilliant artistic career as an accompanying guitarist until, in 1979, at the early age of 19, he won the First Prize of Guitar in Radio Sevilla. His rise to stardom was confirmed when he also won the Giraldillo del Toque Award, in the II Biennial Award of Flamenco Art. He was awarded it by a jury full of great artists, such as Maestro Paco de Lucía, Serranito, Manolo Sanlúcar or Juan Habichuela. His competitors were Pedro Bacán, Tomatito, Riqueni, José Antonio Rodríguez and José Manuel Roldán.

Listening to the way he plays, one can perceive surprising mastery, as well as a particularly broad control of the instrument, both technically and harmonically. His expresiveness take us to the deep Andalusia, where the pure and archaic merge with the modern and contemporary, without losing an ounce of the essence and the grounds of flamenco.

“CRISTINA Y MANUEL”