Ana Alcaide

Ana traveled years ago to the north countries and she fell in love with the Swedish nickelharpas and decided to study and work for the ancient music. So she moved to live in Toledo - the first pluricultural medieval city - You can find her playing through the streets and the theatre in TOLEDO. Spain.

Ana Alcaide is a singer and composer of Toledo to develop a research activity around ancient traditions and cultures.

Born in Madrid and began his musical studies on the violin at age seven . She studied at the Academy Cedam , at the Conservatory of Getafe (Madrid ) and later at the University of Lund , Sweden. He also holds a degree in Biology (UCM , Madrid ) and specialized in botany. She has received extensive scientific and artistic training in different countries ( Spain , Sweden, Mexico ) . Her inquiring mind led him to undertake projects as diverse as the study of fungi in Baja California desert shooting or bird nests in Scandinavian forests . This same spirit is what drives her to investigate traditions , codes and ancient instruments .

Thanks to a scholarship of Biology, in 2000 Ana traveled to Sweden and met the Nyckelharpa or Viola Keys , a minority medieval instrument of Swedish origin . Attracted by its sophistication and depth of sound , he started touching self-taught in the city of Toledo , far from their original traditions. Ana has pioneered the introduction and dissemination of the nyckelharpa in Spain . Years later (2005 ) moved to Sweden to expand their musical studies and specialize in this instrument. During this period also received influences from other musical traditions, beginning in the study of new instruments and their own voices . She earned a degree in Malmö Academy of Music studying an individualized studies ( Individual Project) in which that guided his career to world music , combining his interest in traditional music with modern learning techniques that have enabled the creation his own way as a performer and songwriter.

As a result of her personal research and experimentation with the instrument , she published 'Viola Keys ' in 2006 , work that marks the beginning of his musical career. Her second album ' As the Moon and the Sun ' (2007/2008) , was the result of their final project of her career and offers an original vision of the ancient Sephardic tradition . In late 2009 she collected her first three years working on the DVD ' Ana Alcaide in concert ' , recorded in an ancient temple prayer ( Transito Synagogue of Toledo) with her usual collaborators . After a long period of dedication to motherhood, in 2012 he published her third album , ' The ballad of fire ' , composed work during her pregnancy and it marks a turning point in her personal and professional life.

Ana has combined her studies , concerts and recording projects with her life in Toledo , the city where it was established in 2001 to coincide with her decision to resume her studies . This city is a daily source of inspiration and great influence on her music, often described as the ' Soundtrack of Toledo ' .

Published Discs:

- 'Viola Keys ' 2006
- ' Like the Moon and the Sun ' 2007/2008
- 'La Cantiga del Fuego ' 2012

DVD compilation : 'Ana Alcaide in Concert' 2009