Sounds of Spain

To study an art form steeped in centuries of language, culture, and history, sometimes there’s no substitute for being where it all began. Xander Bowles ’26 found his opportunity during the spring of his junior year in Madrid at the Middlebury School in Spain. A music and economics double major—and accomplished guitarist—Bowles was eager to learn the flamenco style and realized he was in the perfect place to do so.

Bowles, who has studied Spanish since first grade, spent the spring semester of his junior year with Middlebury’s program in Madrid. He took economics courses toward his major at the Universidad Carlos III, but music classes weren’t offered. Instead, Bowles found Álvaro Antona, a renowned flamenco guitar teacher in Madrid, and arranged for two lessons a week funded by the music department. 

“Learning flamenco technique was fascinating,” says Bowles. “The guitar felt familiar in my hands, but flamenco technique made it feel completely new. The biggest challenge was the right-hand technique, and things like rasgueado (flamenco’s signature sound of rapid, rhythmic strumming)—and picado (a way to play melody using mainly the index and middle fingers in an alternating fashion). And learning the art of flamenco in Spanish, in Spain, made a huge difference. Flamenco is deeply tied to Spanish identity, and there’s a strong sense of respect around it. As an outsider, that awareness mattered a lot.”

As he studied technique over the course of the semester, Bowles also saved up to purchase a handmade flamenco guitar from a renowned guitarmaker in Sevilla, Spain. The School in Spain offers students grants for cultural experiences, so he was provided with train fare to Sevilla to meet with Antonio Álvarez Bernal, who crafted a custom flamenco guitar that Bowles has continued to play back in Middlebury.

Bowles expects that learning flamenco guitar, and being able to understand and engage with Spanish language music and culture, will help inform his intended future career in the music industry. After graduation, he’ll be working in a recording studio in Nashville for the summer, and then he’ll enroll in Berklee College of Music to pursue a master’s in creative media and technology, with a focus on songwriting and recording. He plans to become a music producer and a session guitar player.