Tunisian singer Monia Abdelali is presenting Monia’s Q. Arab Flamenco Project in Cordoba, a musical project that explores the historical and emotional ties between Arab musical traditions and flamenco. Accompanied by leading musicians from the flamenco and contemporary jazz scenes, the performer will be giving a concert in which the sounds of the Mediterranean, Arabic modes and flamenco expression all come together in a dialogue.  

Born in Gabès, Tunisia, Monia Abdelali grew up surrounded by the traditional songs of her region and later trained in Arabic singing at the Gabès School of Fine Arts, where she graduated with honors. Her career has led her to take part in audiovisual productions in Tunisia, Libya and Egypt, as well as leading international festivals. Out of Seville, where she has lived for several years, she has worked on various projects that blend tradition and modernity, shifting between the classical Arabic repertoire, jazz and Mediterranean music.  

With the Arab Flamenco Project, launched in 2024, the artist has been exploring the crossroads between Arab music and flamenco, rediscovering shared influences and creating new spaces for artistic expression. This show will be taking us on a musical journey that bridges both shores of the Mediterranean through original compositions, arrangements and reinterpretations that highlight a shared cultural heritage.  

For this project, Monia Abdelali will be joined by flamenco guitarist David Caro, percussionist Javier Rabadán, violinist Leslie Jordan and Brazilian musical producer Manuel Sierra “Chechu”, all musicians with extensive international experience and strong track records in projects that blend flamenco, jazz and world music.

Since it first came about in 2008, the White Night of Flamenco in Cordoba has turned into the world’s largest event dedicated to flamenco, serving as a showcase for virtually all of Cordoba’s flamenco artists and drawing a large audience of flamenco enthusiasts year after year. Most of the great masters have already performed there, including Manolo Sanlúcar, Miguel Poveda, Fosforito, José Mercé, El Lebrijano, Tomatito, Eva Yerbabuena, Dorantes and Enrique Morente. It has also featured well-established artists like Arcángel, Estrella Morente, Kiko Veneno, Rosario Flores, India Martínez and Niña Pastori, among many others, with the total number of participating artists exceeding one thousand across all editions.

Casa Árabe has participated in 15 of the 17 editions of this event, dating back to 2010, when the institution promoted a concert by guitarist and composer Tarik Banzi. Since then, the organization has maintained a close partnership with this event, scheduling performances such as the one by flamenco guitar and Arabic oud virtuoso Ali Khattab (2011); the musical show “Caravana,” directed by flamenco choreographer and dancer Joaquín Ruiz (2012); a concert by the well-known Jordanian fusion singer Farah Siraj (2013); the performance “Algarabía”, the final performance for the project by the Casa Árabe Arab-Flamenco Music School (2014); the show “El viaje del mirlo,” under the musical direction of Sergio de Lope, devoted to Iraqi musician Ziryab (2015); the production “Yo Canto Al-Andalus,” performed by the musical group Yocanto (2016); el a concert by Moroccan guitarist Simo Baazzaoui at the tenth edition of the White Night of Flamenco held in 2017; the comeback by Egyptian musician Ali Khattab, thus consolidating his Arab-flamenco fusion style with the participation of flamenco vocalist Kiki Cortiñas as a guest performer (2018), and the presentation of the Mujeres Mediterráneas (Mediterranean Women) quartet, a group whose members are Pilar Alonso, Habiba Chaouf, Ana Sola and Mixtlan Salomón. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the White Night of Flamenco was suspended in both 2020 and 2021. It resumed in the year 2022, when Casa Árabe contributed with the concert “Two Stories, One Path,” given by Hamid Ajbar Flamenco Fusión; and later with the fusion of traditional Andalusi and flamenco music with flute and saxophone in the project ”Ellas” by Sergio de Lope (2023). More recently, the institution has scheduled a performance of flamenco and Al-Andalus fusion in “Terciopelo,” by José Manuel Tudela (2024), and the traditional fusion group Yaleili, led by the singer of Syrian origin Ebla Sadek (2025).