Celebrating Women's International Day 2024: Inma la Carbonera and Antonia Jimenez

Spanish vocalist Inma la Carbonera and flamenco guitarist Antonia Jimenez will be performing A Gaya to celebrate International Women’s Day 2024.

On the occasion of International Women’s Day, the Cultural Office of the Embassy of Spain in Washington, D.C. features the duo of Inma La Carbonera, a flamenco vocalist from Seville, and Antonia Jiménez, a Spanish female guitarist and composer.

A Gaya

A Gaya is an original concept by Inma La Carbonera. Antonia Jiménez, after researching ancient music, has composed music for verses by female Spanish poets and Lorca. These poems, never sung in flamenco before, gain a new dimension through Inma La Carbonera’s vocals and Antonia Jiménez’s guitar.

A Gaya is the expression of an idea, an emotion: “Woman is the mother of humanity, of all men and women on Earth. The Woman, the mother, is the voice, the song. The Earth is the guitar… time. Woman and Earth, the evolution of both over time, that is A Gaya.”

The show includes selected poems from Spanish poets that range from Santa Teresa de Jesús, Concha Méndez and Carolina Coronado, to Rosalía de Castro, Carmen Conde, to García Lorca’s La monja gitana:

• Romance
• Mariana
• Tientos-tangos
• Granaína
• Antonia (Tribute to Paco de Lucía)
• La monja gitana
• Petenera
• Alegría
• Bulería

Inma La Carbonera

Inma La Carbonera, born in Seville, started her career in tablaos in Spain, France, and Brussels. She later worked with the María Serrano Company and as a soloist at the Amador Rojas company. She performed in Kahlo Caló with dancer Manuela Carrasco, Raíces de Ébano with Manuela Carrasco, and En mis cabales with José Galán.

She was a soloist in Roberto Olivan’s Enclave Danza Company, performing in his show Mermaid’s Call, and participated in the Larachi III Festival, the women’s flamenco singing festival in Paris. She was the main singer for Córdoba dancer Encarna López, and was soloist in the show Tango de los pies al corazón, as well as in Rubén Olmo’s show Tranquilo Alboroto, and for the dancer Olga Pericet in Un cuerpo infinity. Her first album Este es mi Jardín premiered at the Festival Internacional Deltebre Danza 2011.

Antonia Jiménez

Antonia Jiménez, a Spanish flamenco guitarist and composer from El Puerto de Santa María, has played at top tablaos in Madrid, where she has come into contact with leading dance figures such as Marco Flores, Manuel Liñán and Olga Pericet, with whom she regularly works on global stages and festivals.

She frequently performs as a soloist at prominent flamenco festivals worldwide, such as the Jerez Festival, London Flamenco Festival, Chicago Flamenco Festival, Toulouse Festival, and Nimes Festival.