Gustavo Alonso López

Gustavo Alonso López is a North American Flamenco guitarist and composer located in Walla Walla, WA. Born and raised in Idaho as the son of a Salvadoran immigrant, he is formally educated in architecture.  He has worked as a musician for over a decade in Washington, Texas, and Spain. For reasons musical, personal, and cultural, Flamenco is the cornerstone of his creative practice. His music emerges from Flamenco’s grassroots oral tradition and the institutionalized Western notation system, borrows concepts from classical music and jazz, and blurs lines between composition and improvisation. Dismantling stereotypes and building cross-cultural dialogue and understanding through music are key elements of Gustavo’s creative practice.

Gustavo recorded and produced his debut album, Punto Lejano, in 2014 and secured a Fulbright Fellowship to Spain in 2017, which provided his only formal musical education. In Spain, he trained with top guitarists, created original music, and conducted an interview project with the broader Flamenco community, which resulted in a blog entitled Palabras Flamencas. He released a second album, Espasón, in 2023 that included an international team of collaborators from the United States, Italy, and Spain. His third album, Sonanta Con Metales, was released in April of 2026. His work has received additional support from ArtWalla, the Helene Wurlitzer Foundation of New Mexico, Artist Trust, Audiosocket, and the Ucross Foundation. He also serves as a Studio Music Instructor in Guitar at Whitman College and as a board member for ArtWalla.

The music of Paco de Lucía, Pepe Habichuela, Manolo Sanlúcar, Tomatito, Sabicas, Rafael Riqueni, and Miguel Ángel Cortés is a constant source of inspiration for Gustavo. He is also a fan of jazz, rock, classical, and world music, and enjoys playing with artists from these different traditions. He has lived many places throughout the United States and abroad, including Italy, Argentina, and Spain. Gustavo holds undergraduate and graduate degrees in architecture and is a registered architect in Washington State. 

(Photo credit: Brianna Wray)