Antonio Serrano
Antonio Serrano: classical music, jazz, flamenco and his own voice
Music has always been a part of Antonio Serrano’s life. For his family, it is a universal language through which they can express themselves. Antonio’s father taught him to play the harmonica – a great love that the father passed on to his son.
Childhood in Madrid
Antonio spends his first ten years in Madrid, where he attends an English school. He felt happy and free and travelled a lot with his brothers and friends. In addition to music, he also developed a great love for mathematics and science in general. In 1987, Antonio took part in a major harmonica competition in Jersey. It was an event that changed his life. He came to the attention of a great American harmonica player.
Larry Adler becomes his mentor
Larry Adler takes him under his wing and quickly realises that there is nothing more he can teach Antonio technically. Together they talk about music and life. According to Adler, the most important thing is to find your own language and voice and express yourself through your instrument.
At the age of just 13, Antonio performs with Larry Adler at the United Nations in Paris. He still remembers today how excited he was, but how Larry was able to take away his nervousness: “He encouraged me to just be myself and let the music flow. The energy and enthusiasm of that performance are still very vivid in my memory today.”
Studies, sleepless nights and the discovery of jazz
After leaving school, Antonio first went to Valencia to study physics. At the same time, he continued to play the harmonica and discovered jazz and free improvisation. He spent many nights in clubs with other musicians, playing for hours in jam sessions. A whole new world opened up for Antonio, who had previously been influenced mainly by classical music. He travelled to Madrid and immersed himself in the music scene.
Paco de Lucia
At this time, at the end of the 1990s, jazz musicians were rediscovering flamenco. Antonio meets the best musicians of the genre in the clubs of Madrid. And once again he meets pioneering musicians. One of them: the grand master of flamenco guitar Paco de Lucia. Antonio joins his band and later says: “Looking back, I am convinced that I was in the right place at the right time.”
Paco encourages Antonio to engage with his country’s own culture and combine it with music. He thus turned his attention back to classical music and discovered great Spanish composers such as Manuel de Falla, Enrique Granados and Isaac Albéniz.
He arranged the famous work “El Sombrero de Tres Picos” by de Falla for harmonica and orchestra. A path that Antonio would like to continue.
Incredibly intimate and expressive
Antonio now moves through all the musical styles that are important to him. He is working with pianist Kaele Jiménez on the flamenco jazz album “Jazz Caló”. He also loves exploring Bach’s masterpieces and arranging them for the harmonica in such a way that he can get very close to the spirit of Bach.
For Antonio Serrano, the sound of the harmonica is both very intimate and extremely expressive. With it, he can bring deep emotions to the surface and carry them far into the audience. He would like his instrument to receive more attention and far more respect. Because then anything is musically possible.