World class tango star Martín Alvarado to perform in Cornwall in June

Argentina’s finest and award-winning tango vocalist, Martín Alvarado, will be performing in Cornwall for the first time as part of his 25th international tour in June.

His performance, at Carnglaze Caverns, near Liskeard, on Sunday, June 9, at 6pm, will see the award-winning singer accompanying himself on acoustic guitar in true tango troubadour style in his show “Así es mi tango” (So this is my tango).

Alvarado has been touring internationally almost constantly for the past ten years, performing at major venues and festivals – but this will be the first time he has ever performed in a cave!

“It will certainly be a different venue for me,” he said, joking. “I am wondering if I may need to wear gloves and a scarf!”

The old slate mine caverns at Carnglaze, which have a constant year-round temperature of 10C (the audience is advised to bring warm clothes), were chosen by his promoter, L Tango Promotions, because of their superb natural acoustics.

Alvarado’s UK and Europe manager, Lisa Cherry-Downes, of L Tango Promotions, said: “Martín has a voice that is simply heaven-sent and Carnglaze Caverns will be an amazing place to hear him sing.

“He always gets a terrific reception because as well as his fantastic voice, he also has great charisma on stage and connection with his audience. His live performances are just sublime and a lot of fun, too. This is tango – but probably not as people in the UK normally know it.”

Tickets for the concert are £10 on the door (£5 for under-11s) or £8 in advance (£4 for under-11s) from Carnglaze Caverns on 01579 320251. For more details see www.carnglaze.com/martin-alvarado.html

This concert is the third of three performances Alvarado is giving in the UK this time. The others are at Lyde Court in Hereford and at the Octagon Theatre in Yeovil.

The Buenos Aires-born troubadour, has won world-wide acclaim for his “extraordinarily beautiful” tenor voice. He has been compared to the late, great tango singing superstar, Carlos Gardel, and has been described as “the most significant tango singer of modern times”. BBC Radio 3 presenter Max Reinhardt described hearing him in concert in March as “a tango epiphany”.

Earlier this year Alvarado won the Latin UK Award for “Concert by International Artist of the Year” and signed a deal to have his last album released later this year with the highly regarded UK-based world music record label World Music Network.

His outstanding and carefully chosen repertoire from four albums features work by Argentina’s most celebrated poets and composers, including rare work by the Godfather of tango nuevo Astor Piazzolla, as well as some of his own, as yet unrecorded, compositions.

In Buenos Aires, where his music has daily airplay on tango radio stations, Alvarado engenders much national pride for the way, in 24 international tours over the past ten years, he has become something of a cultural ambassador for Argentina’s rich musical heritage.

He discovered his talent to sing at the age of 19, by chance, while studying guitar in Buenos Aires. A few years later he travelled to Spain where he was spotted singing Barcelona and invited to perform in Finland, where tango is a hugely popular activity. News of his talent quickly spread and within two months of arriving there, he was performing with the Tampere Philharmonia Orchestra.

Since then he has performed in many major classical music venues and festivals, had numerous TV performances in Finland, Russia and Argentina and collaborated and performed with some of the leading musicians in the genre. These include the highly revered bandoneon player, Leopoldo Federico, who was a guest performer on his second album, “Así es mi tango”, Horacio Avilano, a prominent guitarist who worked with him on his last album “Más Allá” and renowned Finnish tango nuevo quintet Otra Vez with whom he recorded his third album “Tango Norte Tango Sur”.

In 2008, Alvarado starred in the cutting-edge "El concierto del Nuevo Tango” with internationally-renowned conductor Patrick Gallois, Otra Vez and symphony orchestras and, separately, with Finland’s celebrated UMO jazz orchestra. In 2009, he took part in Piazzolla’s operita “María de Buenos Aires” on its first Polish version and several times in Finland including last year (2012), for the second time, at the prestigious Kuhmo Chamber Music Festival. He will perform in it again in Finland in October.

He is currently working on three new albums.