MELÓN JIMENEZ & LARA WONG
con Sonia Franco
The award-winning duo Melón Jiménez & Lara Wong join forces with Madrid-based dancer and choreographer Sonia Franco to create a performance that converses freely between flamenco and jazz.
Flamenco guitarist and singer, Melón Jimenez and flutist and Bansuri player, Lara Wong are redefining flamenco with a sound that flows across cultures, genres, and time. Rooted in flamenco and colored by jazz, their music evokes the nomadic roots of the art form — from India to North Africa and Latin America.
Since joining forces in Madrid in 2021, they have given over 100 performances across four continents, captivating audiences in Europe, North America, Asia, and Africa. They have performed at renowned stages such as the National Arts Centre, Blue Note Shanghai, Suma Flamenca, the Helsinki Flamenco Festival, and SunFest. In 2024, they released their debut album, which was critically acclaimed and nominated for a JUNO Award for Instrumental Album of the Year. Individually, Melón Jiménez, is known for his collaborations with Anoushka Shankar and Jorge Pardo and myself, flutist, Lara Wong, awarded Best Flamenco Instrumentalist at the Festival del Cante de las Minas.
Sonia Franco, winner of the Flamenco Vivo Carlota Santana Award (NY), Best Solo Choreography, and Best Original Music at the Madrid Spanish Dance & Flamenco Choreography Competition, brings a magnetic expressiveness to the collaboration. She has worked with artists such as Sara Baras, María Pagés, Pedro Córdoba, and José Maldonado, establishing herself as one of the most versatile flamenco dancers of her generation.
TOUR DATES
WITH SONIA FRANCO - 2025
11.20 Espace Lumen, Brussels, Belgium
11.21 Comedie d'Amiens, Amiens, France
11.22 De Nieuwe Vrede, Antwerp, Belgium
11.23 Studio de l'Ermitage, Paris, France
9.17 Flamenco Eñe, Granada, Spain
3.23 Le 360, Paris, France
2.1 Værket, Randers, Denmark
1.31 Viften, Copenhagen, Denmark
MELÓN JIMENEZ & LARA WONG HIGHLIGHTS
National Arts Centre, Canada
Vancouver Folk Festival, Canada
Mariposa Festival , Canada
Sunfest, Canada
Four Seasons Centre for the Performing Arts, Canada
Folk Alliance, Canada
Mundial Montreal, Canada
Helsinki Flamenco Festival, Finland
Instituto Cervantes Bremen, Germany
Suma Flamenca, Spain
Fifty Fifty Jazz & Poetry Festival, Spain
Festival de Musica Española Cadiz, Spain
Femina Jazz Festival, Spain
Festival Sesión B (Fundación Caja de Burgos), Spain
Festival Rivas Flamenca, Spain
Real Alcazar de Sevilla, Spain
AC Recoletos, Spain
Bluenote Shanghai, China
Taipei Performing Arts Centre, Taiwan
From rhythmically driven and gripping solo parts to atmospheric soundscapes, their music breathes the spirit of flamenco, leaves out traditional elements like palmas, and opens itself to the world — free of musical blinders.
— GoodTimes Magazin
Emanating on-stage magnetism and artistic talent.
— Historia de un Amor: Flamenco Jazz
Wong is a virtuoso concert flutist, sculpting extraordinary melodic phrases and lines. But when she exchanges that flute for the Indian bansuri, she unleashes an exponentially bewitching charm that will hold you in irresistible — and willing — bondage.
— The WholeNote
Melón Jiménez is a guitarist to watch. He has an alluring style that presents prodigiously performed, masterfully crafted compositions, exposing guitar complexities and a skill for bridging tradition and modernity.
— DeFlamenco
For Sonia Franco, dancing is not just about moving; it is speaking with her body so that those watching can understand the story behind each movement.
— Carmela Greco, bailaora, Spanish Heritage of UNESCO
