{"id":575,"date":"2019-11-05T19:19:37","date_gmt":"2019-11-05T19:19:37","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.mapamundimusica.com\/viguela\/?page_id=575"},"modified":"2026-06-02T18:03:10","modified_gmt":"2026-06-02T18:03:10","slug":"bio","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.mapamundimusica.com\/viguela\/en\/bio\/","title":{"rendered":"Bio"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\u666e\u901a\u8bdd\u4f20\u8bb0<\/a><\/h5>\n
\"\"The history of Vig\u00fcela is the story of a vital surrender to a cultural legacy of a wild and very ignored beauty: the traditional music of the center of the Iberian Peninsula.<\/span><\/h5>\n

Vig\u00fcela was formed in the mid-1980s, like many other groups of young people who, in the aftermath of the Franco regime, turned to the popular traditions of their homeland as a way of channelling their creative aspirations.<\/p>\n

Their approach is distinguished by the performance of jotas, seguidillas, fandangos and sones as they are heard in their traditional social contexts, with a strong improvisational component and a deep fidelity to traditional codes. At the same time, Vig\u00fcela brings this repertoire into artistic and stage contexts rarely associated with Castilian tradition.<\/p>\n

With ten albums released and collaborations ranging from contemporary dance to international roots and experimental music projects, Vig\u00fcela understands tradition as a living artistic language, capable of engaging with a wide variety of audiences and contexts. Throughout their career, the group has brought this repertoire to international stages across Europe, Asia and the Americas, including prestigious cultural venues such as the Alte Oper Frankfurt.<\/p>\n

In 2022, the Library of Congress in the United States commissioned Vig\u00fcela to record a live performance for its music archives. Here we show a still image from the video hosted on the Library of Congress channel.<\/p>\n

The complete video is available here: https:\/\/www.loc.gov\/item\/2024698152\/<\/a><\/p>\n

Institutional Support<\/h4>\n

Vig\u00fcela has received support from institutional programmes such as PICE, run by Acci\u00f3n Cultural Espa\u00f1ola (AC\/E), for performances in Poland, the Czech Republic and South Korea.<\/p>\n

In addition, in 2020 Vig\u00fcela was selected for the AECID Music Catalogue (Spanish Agency for International Development Cooperation), Spain\u2019s main platform for the international promotion of musical artists. The selection followed a curation process carried out by a committee of experts highlighting outstanding proposals across all genres. In January and February 2026, the group undertook a ten-day tour of India with the support of the Embassy of Spain in New Delhi.<\/p>\n

The Junta de Comunidades de Castilla-La Mancha and IPEX supported the band for a project of internationalization to produce content in 8 different languages.<\/p>\n

Notable Collaborations<\/h4>\n

In the field of contemporary dance, the group composed and recorded the original music for Invisibles al Son, a production by choreographer Sara Cano (Max Award winner 2020), created in 2022. This collaboration established a creative dialogue between traditional music and contemporary dance.<\/p>\n

On Vig\u00fcela\u2019s ninth album, A la manera artesana<\/em> (2022), the renowned flautist and saxophonist Jorge Pardo, a key figure in flamenco jazz, collaborated with the group, creating a fruitful encounter between different musical traditions.<\/p>\n

Throughout recent years, Vig\u00fcela has collaborated with artists from Poland (Janusz Prusinowski Kompania and Maria Siwiec), the Brazilian DJ duo Venga, Venga, a group of bauls from West Bengal (Girish Baul and companions), as well as artists from four other countries.<\/p>\n

Recordings<\/h4>\n

Throughout their career, Vig\u00fcela has released ten albums to date.<\/p>\n

Their most recent recordings have achieved international visibility through specialised labels. Their seventh, eighth and ninth albums \u2014 Temperamento, A Tiempo Real (In Real Time) and A la manera artesana \u2014 were released by the British label ARC Music, a leading reference in the field with a history spanning more than 45 years.<\/p>\n

Their tenth album, We (2024, Mapamundi M\u00fasica), has received significant critical acclaim:<\/p>\n

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  • Featured in the prestigious Bestenliste (Critics\u2019 Choice List) of the Preis der Deutschen Schallplattenkritik (German Record Critics\u2019 Award). In its review, the jury described We as \u201can almost hypnotic reinterpretation of traditional jotas, fandangos and sones\u201d, in which traditional instruments such as the rabel and the zambomba merge with the voices to create \u201can unusually colourful ensemble sound\u201d, while the recording itself \u201cstands out for a raw intensity that enhances its musical nuances\u201d.<\/span><\/li>\n
  • Selected as Best Album of the Second Quarter of 2024 by the panel of experts of LIM\u00faR, which brings together specialists in Iberian roots music. This distinction recognises artistic excellence beyond stylistic boundaries.<\/span><\/li>\n
  • Included among the Top 10 Albums of Flamenco and Roots Music by Spain\u2019s leading long-established music magazine, Mondo Sonoro.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

    More about the core members<\/h1>\n

    In alphabetical order:<\/p>\n

    Carmen (Menchu) Torres.\u00a0<\/strong>Voice and percussions. Native from\u00a0El Carpio de Tajo.<\/span><\/h4>\n