Vertical anthem
Rocío Márquez and Pedro Rojas Ogáyar

 Saturday, February 14, 7:30 p.m.
 €18, €20
MUN Theatre

In Himno Vertical, Rocío Márquez transforms the requiem, traditionally a farewell song, a mass that pays tribute to the dead, into a work that honors not only the end, but also the beginning, the flow, and the transformation.

This requiem does not follow the dictates of authorship, nor does it belong to a single voice. It is a choral echo that resonates from the collective, a ritual of farewell and welcome at the same time, a circular ceremony that invites us to question the cycle of life and death as opposite poles and to accept them as a single dance.

In a world obsessed with creation, with the indelible mark of the "I" on the work, this requiem invites us to reflect on authorship and to blur it until it disappears. Like an anonymous voice, the work itself breathes and exhales in anonymity, intertwining with the memories, knowledge, thoughts, and whispers of those who approach it.

Himno Vertical is presented as a spiral with no clear beginning or end; at its center is emptiness, that space where creation and dissolution intertwine in eternal balance. Death, far from being a tragic fate, is understood here as a respite in the cycle of life. It is not an abrupt cut, but a pause in the breath of the spiral, a point of return and rediscovery.

If life is a straight line that moves forward, then death is the turn that transforms that line into a loop, bringing it back and reformulating it. Thus, death becomes a passage, a liminal space that allows for constant renewal, a threshold that we all cross again and again.

A requiem that does not seek to console or give meaning, but rather to observe death as part of a continuous process, without drama or endings.
 

ARTISTIC AND TECHNICAL CREDITS
On stage: Rocío Márquez and Pedro Rojas Ogáyar
Musical composition: Rocío Márquez and Pedro Rojas
Lyrics: Rocío Márquez, with the collaboration of Carmen Camacho
Direction and dramaturgy: Fran Torres
Set design, costumes, and choreography: Roberto Martínez
Lighting: Benito Jiménez
Sound: Javi Mora
Stage elements: Antonio Godoy and Pablo Pujol
Vinyl jumpsuit and crinoline original idea: María Pinto
Production: Ernesto Novales
A production by DELIRIOYROMERO PRODUCCIONES SL
With the support of the Andalusian Agency for Cultural Institutions, Regional Government of Andalusia
With the support of INAEM - National Institute of Performing Arts and Music, Ministry of Culture
 

ROCÍO MÁRQUEZ
Rocío Márquez (Huelva, 1985) is one of the leading figures in 21st-century flamenco music. When it comes to establishing herself as a singer, she follows in the footsteps of the great innovators of the genre. In her three decades of artistic career, she has combined rigorous research, creative vocation, and interpretive excellence. The result is a resounding contribution to flamenco's position at the forefront of contemporary music today.

Rocío puts her vocal excellence at the service of an artistic curiosity that leads her to explore flamenco traditions without dogma or attachment. The jonda tradition is a source of inspiration for her, a foundation from which to spread her wings. She explores melodies, instrumentation, arrangements, lyrics, vocal textures, and the physicality of flamenco itself.

Her discography takes us on a journey to the heart of her being, from Aquí y ahora (2009) to Tercer cielo –with Bronquio– (2022) and Flamencos: Falla, Albéniz, Granados –with Rosa Torres Pardo– (2022). Her albums reveal another of Rocío's musical foundations: placing flamenco in open dialogue and a spirit of encounter through collaborations with artists from diverse musical styles.

Her career is full of accolades, such as being the first woman to win the four specific awards as well as the Lámpara Minera at the Festival de Cante de Las Minas de La Unión (2008). She is the first Spanish artist to win the French Les Victorias du Jazz award (2020), and the first woman to receive the Medalla de Oro de la Petenera (2019). Her latest album, Tercer cielo, was named Best Album of the Year 2022 by the PAM (Periodistas Asociados de Música).

Rocío Márquez holds a PhD cum laude from the University of Seville with her thesis on "Vocal Technique in Flamenco." She teaches in the Interuniversity Master's Degree in Flamenco Research and Analysis and lectures on the flamenco voice.
 

PEDRO ROJAS OGÁYAR
Pedro Rojas Ogáyar (Torres, Jaén, 1984) is co-founder and co-artistic director of the experimental music ensemble Proyecto OCNOS, alongside musician Gustavo A. Domínguez Ojalvo. He has a degree in classical guitar and a Master's in Performing Arts.

He has recordings on the labels La Mà de Guido (Excepciones, 2015), Columna Música (Se oye gritar entre sueños, 2019), and IBS Classical (Rodrigo Guitar Works, 2019), and has premiered operas in Seville, Madrid, and Rome (Espacio Turina, Teatro Real, Teatro de la Abadía, Academia de España en Roma). He has worked with artists such as Raquel Andueza, Niño de Elche, Xavier Xabata, Nicola Beller Carbone, Germán Alonso, Nuria Nuñez-Hierro, Alberto Carretero, Luz Prado, Paco Gámez, Lola Blasco, Rafael R. Villalobos and María Cabeza de Vaca, among others.

He leads several groups focused on exploring the interaction of music with other artistic disciplines, such as the FURIA MOLAR projects, alongside guitarist Rubén Baena, and his personal project based on experimental rock logic under the pseudonym Pedro de la Mugre. In 2021, he founded the Teatro Anatómico company, together with stage director Ana Sánchez Acevedo, premiering his first contemporary dance show (SAN VITO, 2022) at the Teatro Lope de Vega in Seville alongside dancer Juan Luis Matilla. He is currently preparing a new project called RUIDO CLAVEL, together with soprano Helena Amado, in which they take copla to the most unexpected places in collaboration with artist and curator Pedro G. Romero.

He recently launched an electronic sound project with musician BURDEOS called Momento Cumbre.