On 20 September 2026, José Mercé will return to the Teatro de la Maestranza as part of the 24th Seville Flamenco Biennial with Toquen a rebato, one of this edition’s Unique Nights. This recital is conceived as more than a simple retrospective of his hits or a conventional presentation of a repertoire: the Biennial itself describes it as an encounter between one of the most recognisable voices in contemporary flamenco and three young guitarists set to play an important role in flamenco guitar today.
The idea has a history. Ten years earlier, in 2016, Mercé closed that edition of the Biennial at the same theatre, accompanied by Tomatito, Pepe Habichuela and Alfredo Lagos. The success of that evening inspired this new project. In 2026, the format returns with a different generational perspective: David de Arahal, José del Tomate and Manuel Cerpa will play guitar, while Mercé revisits the styles of flamenco singing in which he excels through the eyes of “those who are coming next”.
The idea neatly captures one of the tensions running through flamenco today: how to preserve an artistic memory without turning it into a museum piece. Toquen a rebato seems to be built around precisely that question.
The title was not chosen by chance. The Biennial explains that “Toquen a rebato” refers, on the one hand, to a soleá by Juanito Mojama, a flamenco singer whom José Mercé deeply admires. At the same time, “tocar a rebato” is a traditional Spanish expression associated with an urgent alarm, historically sounded through a rapid ringing of bells or beating of drums.
The show turns that expression into an artistic statement. The alarm Mercé raises can be summed up in a question: what happens if flamenco singing is lost? Faced with that possibility, the response is not simply to look back. The project places Mercé alongside a new generation of guitarists, allowing this musical heritage to be passed on live, on stage.
The title therefore works on several levels. It recalls a historic flamenco singer, draws on everyday language and, at the same time, issues a contemporary call to defend flamenco singing as a living heritage. Mercé’s “ringing of the bell” seeks not to freeze flamenco in time, but to pass repertoire, experience and a particular understanding of the genre on to younger musicians.
The comparison with 2016 is essential to understanding the show. That year, José Mercé gave a much-remembered closing performance at the Teatro de la Maestranza, accompanied by Tomatito, Pepe Habichuela and Alfredo Lagos, three names representing different generations and schools of flamenco guitar.
A decade later, the Biennial returns to the idea but changes the perspective. Mercé remains at the centre of the singing, while the guitars pass into the hands of three performers born between 1998 and 2003. The contrast is deliberate: a voice with decades of stage experience and an extensive discography enters into dialogue with guitarists who represent the genre’s continuity.
This is therefore more than a nostalgic repeat of the 2016 evening. The concept is revisited to explore what has changed in ten years: how a younger generation listens to Mercé’s singing, how it accompanies him and what it can learn from an artist who has experienced both traditional flamenco and its reach towards wider audiences.
The guitar is one of the main attractions of Toquen a rebato. Each accompanist brings a different background and a particular relationship with tradition.
David de Arahal, born in 2000, is one of the most prominent young voices in Seville’s guitar scene. Despite his age, his career has already brought him alongside major artists, and the Biennial itself presents him as a musician who has earned a place among the greats.
José del Tomate, born in Almería in 1998, belongs to one of flamenco’s great guitar dynasties. He is Tomatito’s son and also looks to his uncle Niño Miguel as a reference. His presence creates a particularly evocative link with the 2016 show, in which Tomatito himself accompanied Mercé.
Manuel Cerpa, born in Chipiona in 2003, is the youngest of the three. His involvement has a different dimension because he already regularly tours with José Mercé. There is therefore an existing artistic relationship that may bring a different kind of rapport from that of a one-off encounter.
Together, the three ensure that the “new generation” is more than an abstract category: these are three guitarists with different origins, schools and connections to flamenco singing.
The Biennial has not published a fixed, song-by-song repertoire, which is understandable for a flamenco recital of this kind, but it does offer clear indications of the musical direction. The programme promises a journey through the flamenco styles in which José Mercé excels, reinterpreted from the young guitarists’ perspective.
Two reference points seem inevitable. The first is bulerías from Jerez, natural territory for a singer born in the Santiago district and deeply connected to the Jerez tradition. The second is alegrías. The organisers also suggest that there will be room for a few nods to the biggest hits of his career.
This suggests a recital that will not draw a rigid line between the more orthodox Mercé and the artist who brought flamenco to mass audiences. Indeed, one of the distinctive features of his career has been his ability to move between these worlds without giving up his identity as a flamenco singer.
The evening’s interest will therefore lie less in discovering an unheard list of pieces than in observing how the accompaniment changes when three young guitarists enter a repertoire that Mercé has been singing for decades.
Although the three guitars draw much of the attention, Toquen a rebato will feature a larger ensemble. The official artistic credits list José Mercé on vocals, accompanied by David de Arahal, José del Tomate and Manuel Cerpa on guitar.
The rhythm section is completed by David del Gasolina on cajón and percussion. Víctor Carrasco, Chicharito de Jerez, Jorge Bautista and Merce Garcíawill provide backing vocals and handclaps.
This line-up points to a show able to move between stripped-back moments of voice and guitar and passages with greater rhythmic drive. In a repertoire where bulerías are expected to play an important role, the handclap and backing-vocal team is far from secondary: it could become an essential part of the evening’s musical structure.
The idea of passing on a tradition carries particular weight when José Mercé is the central figure. Born José Soto Soto in Jerez de la Frontera in 1955, he comes from a long flamenco lineage: he is the great-grandson of Paco de la Luz, the nephew of Manuel Soto “Sordera” and the cousin of Vicente Soto “Sordera”.
His own life story is built on a succession of learning experiences and stages. As a child, he sang in the choir of the Basílica de La Merced — hence his stage name —, appeared at the Jueves Flamencos in Jerez and moved to Madrid at a very young age, where he worked at Torres Bermejas. Throughout his career, he has been accompanied by guitarists such as Manolo Sanlúcar and Paco de Lucía, later becoming one of the singers capable of bringing flamenco to very broad audiences.
That journey makes the Biennial’s decision to place him at the heart of an intergenerational project particularly fitting. Mercé appears not only as a performer, but as a link in a chain: someone who inherited a tradition, transformed it over the course of his career and now brings it into contact with musicians beginning to build their own.
The Biennial classifies Toquen a rebato as a Unique Night. The term identifies shows conceived as distinctive, one-off events within this edition, rather than simply stops on a conventional tour presented in Seville.
In 2026, the Biennial has brought together 26 projects under this designation. José Mercé also takes part in another of them: the gala El mundo por montera, scheduled for 10 September at the Plaza de Toros de la Real Maestranza. However, Toquen a rebato is his own headline event within the programme.
The chosen venue is the Teatro de la Maestranza, one of the Biennial 2026’s major stages and a place with a special connection to the singer’s recent history at the festival. Returning to the very theatre that hosted the 2016 evening strengthens the sense of this show as a conversation between two moments separated by a decade.
Sunday 20 September will be an especially busy day at the Biennial. Before Mercé’s recital, there will be a Unique Matinee featuring Alejandro Hurtado with Enrique Solinís at San Luis de los Franceses, while Manuel de la Luz and Manuel Imán will present Manos que hablan at Espacio Turina at 19:00. Later, the Teatro Alameda will host the Gala del Circuito Andaluz de Jóvenes Flamencos.
In this context, Toquen a rebato takes the main evening slot at the Teatro de la Maestranza, at 20:00. Visitors planning several days at the Biennial should check the times carefully, as some events overlap partly or entirely.
You can also consult our complete guide to the Unique Nights at the Biennial 2026 and our general guide to Seville’s Flamenco Biennial 2026 to place this recital within the full calendar.
Toquen a rebato works on several levels and can appeal to different audiences. For those familiar with José Mercé’s career, the interest lies in seeing how he revisits his usual territory with three guitars from another generation. For lovers of flamenco guitar, the evening offers a rare opportunity to hear three young guitarists in dialogue with the same singer within a shared artistic concept.
It can also be a good choice for anyone wishing to discover flamenco singing through a highly recognisable artist. For decades, Mercé has combined deeply flamenco repertoires with a gift for communication that has helped him reach audiences beyond the traditional circle of enthusiasts.
And for those who followed the Biennial in 2016, there is an added attraction: comparing two evenings built around the same idea, separated by ten years and two different generations of guitarists.
Check availability in advance. The Biennial describes the recital as a Unique Night, so this is its only date in the official programme.
Keep the overlapping events on 20 September in mind. If you want to combine several shows, pay particular attention to the Espacio Turina performance starting at 19:00 and the day’s other activities.
Allow plenty of time to arrive at the Teatro de la Maestranza. It is one of the festival’s largest and most important venues, and the surrounding area can get busy on days with a packed programme.
Do not necessarily expect a “greatest hits” concert. The official information focuses on a journey through the flamenco styles in which Mercé excels and on his musical conversation with the three guitarists. There may be nods to popular songs from his career, but the show’s concept is essentially rooted in flamenco.
José Mercé presents Toquen a rebato on Sunday 20 September 2026 at 20:00.
The recital takes place at the Teatro de la Maestranza in Seville, one of the main venues of the 24th Flamenco Biennial.
He is accompanied by David de Arahal, José del Tomate and Manuel Cerpa, three young guitarists with different backgrounds and career paths.
The title refers to a soleá by Juanito Mojama and also to the traditional Spanish expression “tocar a rebato”, an urgent call of alarm. The show uses that idea as a symbolic warning about the risk of losing flamenco singing and as a gesture of passing it on to a new generation.
The Biennial has not published a fixed repertoire, but it announces a journey through the flamenco styles in which Mercé excels. It specifically mentions bulerías from Jerez, alegrías and possible nods to some of his hits.
The Biennial presents it as a Unique Night. The concept revisits the format of Mercé’s 2016 recital at the Maestranza with three great guitarists, now developing it alongside a new generation of flamenco guitarists.
Yes. He also takes part in El mundo por montera, the gala of the 24th Biennial scheduled for 10 September at the Plaza de Toros de la Real Maestranza.
Toquen a rebato has a simple premise, but one that is especially fruitful for a Biennial: to bring José Mercé’s experience face to face with three young approaches to the guitar. The recital looks back to Juanito Mojama, to Jerez, to Mercé’s own history and to that evening in 2016, while keeping the tribute from turning into nostalgia.
The key lies in passing the tradition on. David de Arahal, José del Tomate and Manuel Cerpa appear as more than accompanists: they are part of the artistic premise. They are “those who are coming next”, while Mercé brings a voice that already belongs to flamenco’s collective memory.
On 20 September, the Teatro de la Maestranza will be where these two time frames meet. If the call of alarm warns that flamenco singing could be lost, the very existence of the show suggests a response: flamenco singing lives on when it is heard, shared and passed from one pair of hands to another.
Information reviewed on 2 September 2026. Times, availability and admission conditions may change; check the official information before attending.
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