Mercedes de Rocio Sanguiao Horneros (Mercedes Luján)

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She comes from a family of artists, born in Lorca (Murcia) in 1987, daughter of the couple, singer Rosa Maria Luján and the radio host Luis Terry. she began her training at the hands of her paternal grandfather, Jerez guitarist “Maestro Palmita”. Awarded by the chair of flamencology in Jerez de la Frontera and student of Javier Molina himself.

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Mercedes is regarded by many to be the best female flamenco guitarist in the contemporary scene. She displays great confidence onstage, shows extreme delicacy in her technique and plays in a very classical style, with echoes of Morón, Melchor and Jerez. A lot of Mercedes’ current work centers on actively promoting female guitarists. 

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Despite her youth, Luján has accompanied many of the leading flamenco singers such as Rocío Márquez, Sorderita, Pedro “El Granaíno”, Perlita de Huelva and the maestro Juan Valderrama with whom she is currently working on the tour of the "Mujeres de Carne y Verso" project. She has also worked with other acclaimed artists such as Luis Aguilé and Chano Lobato.

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She has performed at top venues in Spain and abroad, including Teatro Romea, the Teatro Guerra, the Lodz Theatre in Poland, the Teatro Español in San Miguel de Tucumán in Argentina and the Dubai Opera in UAE. And prestogious festivals such as Flamenco Joven Madrid 2017 (Spain), Granada International Guitar Festival 2021 & 2022(Spain), Uppsala International Guitar Festival 2018 (Sweden), Arles Flamenco Festival 2020 ans 2021 (France).

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Mercedes currently performs with her 'group entirely made up of women', within spain and internationally. She also performs within several collaborative projects such as her special Arabic-Flamenco Duo with Fusion guitarist/ oud player Kamal Musallam, as well as her collaboration with the all female "Firdaus Orchestra" in Dubai and beyond.

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Likewise, she has been the first female guitarist to represent the poster image of the Lo Ferro 2019 flamenco festival. She also appeared in the film "Tocaoras" by Alicia Cifredo, a documentary where she reveals the invisibility of women guitarists. 

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Mercedes is currently composing new songs and recording her first solo work, from which she has released a single entitled "Now or Never".