ALEX HRISTOV is best known for his ability to play deeply emotional, traditional Flamenco while venturing into the sounds and rhythms of Latin America, World Music, Jazz, and New Age.
Born in Sofia, Bulgaria, Alex spent the first half of his life moving between the great Balkan state and Phoenix. A precocious toddler, Alex was ever captivated by the beauty and complexity of music. By 3rd grade he was taking private saxophone and piano lessons from some of Arizona’s best.
As a teenager, Alex became increasingly fascinated by the Flamenco guitarist he would hear just down the hall from his saxophone lessons. Already an accomplished musician, he picked up the guitar with ease and commenced a lifelong journey of mastering Flamenco guitar.
Within one year he was noticed and taken under the wing of prominent Arizona-based Flamenco guitarist, Gaetano, of the critically acclaimed band, Mosaico. Weekly lessons and a strict practice régime of 5 hours daily for the next 5 years cemented Alex’s status as Gaetano’s protégé and successor. Being himself raised in Sevilla, Gaetano knew that for Alex to complete his mastery of the art, he must travel to the heart of Flamenco itself: the Andalucía region of southern Spain.
Alex trained and studied Flamenco music, guitar, and culture with the world acclaimed Gerardo Núñez in Sanlúcar de Barrameda, in the heart of Andalucía. There, he sharpened his skills as a solo artist and fully immersed himself, absorbing the soul, or “Aire,” of Flamenco. Also, while at Brown University, he studied Classical guitar to broaden his artistic perspective, before transferring to Harvard to concentrate in English and History. His deep musical and cultural knowledge allows him to artfully blend the richness of traditional Flamenco with the sounds and rhythms of Latin American jazz, world music and even contemporary pop.
Most recently, Alex was invited to open for legendary Bulgarian folk singer, Valya Balkanska, during her USA tour, whose song, “Izlel Je Delyo Haydutin” is one of only 27 songs included on the Voyager Probe Golden Record sent into space in 1977.