Madrid born
vocalist and composer Rebeca Vallejo is a most versatile and innovative
performer. Known for combining her ancestral Flamenco roots, her deep love and
understanding of Brazilian music, with the language of Jazz, Rebeca Vallejo
deftly weaves all these elements into a sound that is truly unique. Equal parts
nomad and musician, Rebeca Vallejo’s life has led her across several continents
and infused her music with an awareness and understanding of a multitude of
cultures. Born into a family of singers in Madrid, Spain, Rebeca was
immediately immersed in the rich musical language of Flamenco, learning at the
feet of her grandfather, himself a Flamenco singer.
Beginning her
public performances at the age of four, the musical journey that started in an
urban neighborhood of Madrid eventually took Ms. Vallejo to Great Britain,
where she developed a deep passion for Jazz. Arriving in New York in 2000,
Rebeca began collaborating and performing with the most sought after musicians
of the Latin-Jazz scene. Through this exposure, she uncovered the emotional
beauty and rhythmic complexity of Brazilian music. It was there that she
discovered the third corner of a musical triangle that, together with Jazz and
Flamenco, would shape her musical foundation. In addition to being an acclaimed
performer, Rebeca Vallejo is the creator and bandleader of the musical projects
EuroLatinJazz and EuroLatinFunk, an accomplished composer/Jazz arranger (among
her composition projects are 300 children songs written for the national
franchise “The Language Workshop”) and for two years she was the main vocalist
of the Flamenco Dance Company “Día Flamenco”.
Since 2012 Rebeca
Vallejo has been an active performing member of the Brooklyn Conservatory
Chorale. In 2009 Rebeca Vallejo was granted a scholarship to the prestigious
Flamenco institution Cristina Heeren in Seville, Spain, where she focused on
the study of Flamenco repertoire and Flamenco singing techniques. During the
year of 2012 Rebeca Vallejo served as the director of SMINYC, a collective of
musicians from Spain residing in New York, sponsored by the Spanish Cultural
institution Centro Español. The mission statement of SMINYC was to support and
promote musicians from Spain in New York by producing monthly events where
projects of all musical genres are showcased. Through the success of the events
organized by SMINYC, Rebeca Vallejo nurtured a lasting relationship with the
Spanish Embassy in Washington and Spanish Consulate in NY (which became
official sponsors of all her musical presentations) as well as with the
world-wide prestigious cultural institution of Instituto Cervantes Among Rebeca
Vallejo’s musical accomplishments are numerous performances in renowned events
(Jazz Aspen Gala accompanied by Chucho Valdes’s band, Havana, Cuba), festivals
(Gentse Feesten, Gent, Belgium), and venues such as the Modern Art Museum in
Salvador, BRAZIL, The Kennedy Center (Washington), Carnegie Hall (with the NY
Youth Orchestra, NY), and the United States Capitol (accompanying Gospel Grammy
award winners Yolanda Adams and Dorinda Clark at the “Unveiling of Sojourner
Truth’s bust”).
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