Antonio Serrano

ANTONIO SERRANO (1974) is recognized as one of the greatest harmonica players of our time. His contribution to Spanish music is particularly significant, as he introduced the harmonica into flamenco. Between 2004 and 2014, he was a member of Paco de Lucía’s legendary band. Serrano’s wide‑ranging interests have inspired original projects spanning jazz, classical, baroque, tango, and pop music. Born in Madrid, Serrano began studying music and playing the harmonica under the guidance of his father. He also studied piano and violin at the conservatories in Alicante and Madrid, and later perfected his harmonica skills in London under the mentorship of the legendary Larry Adler. At the age of 13, he performed with Adler at a United Nations concert in Paris, and at 18, in 1992, he gave a performance of Malcolm Arnold’s Harmonica Concerto, Op. 46 in Belgium. In his solo career, Antonio Serrano has collaborated with symphony orchestras in Belgium, Cologne, Heidelberg, Kiel, and Istanbul, performing original concertos for harmonica by Reynaldo Villa Lobos, Malcolm Arnold, Ralph Vaughan Williams, and others, as well as arrangements of works by Enescu, Gershwin, and Rimsky‑Korsakov. He has also worked with leading figures such as Larry Adler, Belgian jazz legend Toots Thielemans, trumpeter Wynton Marsalis, soprano Barbara Hendricks, and many others. His performances and recordings have received widespread acclaim. En el Central (1999) and Armonitango (2007) were produced with the special support of Toots Thielemans. Harmonious (2012), his most personal and autobiographical work, explores the technical possibilities of the chromatic harmonica and marked the success of his first solo international tour, establishing him as a global benchmark for the instrument. In 2017, Serrano paid tribute to Toots Thielemans, was invited to major festivals across Europe, Asia, and the United States, and released the album Tootsology. In 2018, he returned to classical music with an album of duets for harmonica and piano featuring works by Spanish and Argentine composers such as Manuel de Falla, Sarasate, Granados, Piazzolla, and Guastavino, which was highly praised by specialist media. In 2020, he created an adaptation for harmonica and orchestra of Manuel de Falla’s El sombrero de tres picos (The Three‑Cornered Hat) and published the book Learn to Play the Harmonica with Antonio Serrano. In February 2021, he premiered the project Bach and Bach together with Daniel Oyarzabal, organist of the National Symphony Orchestra in Madrid, and double bassist Pablo Martín Caminero. In July of the same year, his project Classical, based on famous classical melodies enriched with bold jazz harmonies and syncopated rhythms, premiered in Madrid. In 2024, he released the album Porter & Gershwin on Harmonica with Ignasi Terrasa and Federico Lecchner. Antonio Serrano has received numerous prestigious awards. In 1992, he won second prize as a soloist at the Eurovision Young Musicians Competition for his performance of Malcolm Arnold’s Concerto for Harmonica and Orchestra. In 2014, Berklee College of Music honored him with the Masters of Mediterranean Music award in the category Flamenco Jazz for his groundbreaking contribution to the style. The following year, he received a Latin Grammy for his participation in the album Entre 20 aguas: A la música de Paco de Lucía. In 2020, he was awarded the Bernie Bray Award for Best Performer of the Year by the Spanish Society for the Preservation and Development of the Harmonica. Most recently, in 2024, he received the award of the 26^th San Javier International Jazz Festival, recognizing his technical mastery, theoretical depth, and versatility across musical styles and genres. Serrano is also a dedicated educator. He teaches courses in musical improvisation at several European conservatories and flamenco at Berklee College of Music. In addition, he lectures at the University of Khartoum (Sudan), serves on juries, and leads master classes at harmonica competitions worldwide.