The “Ciclo Grandes Oyentes” concerts have been a fantastic discovery and Saturday morning plan for families with “grandes oyentes”, that is, little kids – the real “great listeners” they refer to in their title. The British Spanish Society was delighted to be invited to attend this event, hosted by María Magdalena Sánchez Moreno, the 2023 BritishSpanishSociety-BBVA scholarship winner. The event was attended by BritishSpanish Society trustee José Olivares (alongside his son and wife) who described it as ‘a cultural event that has exceeded my expectations’. 

The event organisers did a great job… bearing in mind we -families- were carrying 0 to 4 year-olds, pushchairs, bags, backpacks, etc… The organisers made it all so easy.

Before entering the main concert hall, there was a wide room with musicians playing different instruments so that kids could discover them and get familiar with their sound: a Spanish guitar, a violin, a double-bass, a “cajón flamenco” and a few more, and there was even a flamenco dancer playing castanets too. After 30min walking around with our kids, immersed in a variety of mixed sounds, we went inside the main concert hall.

The venue was beautiful, the “Sala de Columnas” of the “Círculo de Bellas Artes” building, in Madrid.

We were all seated with our kids on the floor, which was full of mats, allowing parents and kids to move freely.

The music started and it was just amazing. In the first minute, our kids had this innocent face of “what is going on” but they were also keen on finding each sound and voice on stage, and us, parents, we immediately realised the top-level talent we had in front of us. We knew it was going to be a great spectacle.

The beauty of this concert was that it wasn’t about children’s music, but proper Spanish lyric music and flamenco, from Falla, Albéniz, Federico García Lorca… with eight artists on stage, including two grammy artists! one singer and one dancer.

The pieces they sung and played were perfectly curated… I would have never imagined that so many little kids would be paying attention and enjoying music for so long, and even dancing!

My personal discovery: Nino de los Reyes. The rhythm of his “taconeo” and his movement, made me connect deeply with his music and art. What a stunning “bailaor”!

I recommend you all to look him up on the internet and see and listen for yourselves. I now understand why he is the only dancer in the world to win a Grammy award. Simply unique.

Time flew, we had a magical time there and seeing our little ones’ awed faces, and their spontaneous stomping to the tune of the music was something we will always remember.

We can’t wait to go again next year to the “Ciclo Grandes Oyentes”. ¡Gracias María!