About me

I’m a flamenco guitarist, composer, researcher, and lecturer, based in Granada, Spain.

I was born in the Netherlands, and have lived and worked in Spain, Germany, and the United Kingdom. My passion for flamenco started at an early age. Going through the old flamenco cassettes of my parents when I was 14, I quickly discovered that I wanted to dedicate all my energy to learning to play guitar.

I’ve also always been a keen reader and have been interested in languages, literature, and philosophy. I did my undergraduate degree, Research MA and PhD in Spanish and Literary Studies in the Netherlands, whilst spending all my free time playing and studying guitar. After studying with my dear friend and maestro Aloys Janssen in Nijmegen, I then went on to study with Manolo Sanlúcar at the Córdoba Guitar Festival (2005) and with Niño de Pura, Paco Cortés, Eduardo Rebollar and other teachers at the Fundación de Arte Flamenco Cristina Heeren in Seville (2010-2011).

Between 2018 and 2025 I worked as a Lecturer (2018-2023) and Senior Lecturer (2023-2025) in Spanish Cultural Studies at the University of Manchester, UK, where I taught on modern Spanish culture, with a focus on cultural memory, flamenco and environmental studies. Since February 2025, I am a Ramón y Cajal research fellow at the department of Spanish Literature at the University of Granada. I regularly perform as a musician and have given talks about flamenco and other topics at universities across Europe and the Americas and at a variety of music festivals, symposia, and other settings.