Tango Liverpool presents a concert by world class tango artist Martin Alvarado with special guest Mikko Helenius (Finland) on piano and bandoneon at Studio2, Parr Street, Liverpool, on Saturday August 18 at 7.30pm. Tickets are £15 on the door or £12 in advance from Linda Wilton. Call 01928 569806 or 07947 882055 or e-mail [email protected]

Alvarado has achieved wide acclaim during 23 international tours over the past ten years, headlining at major venues and regularly achieving sold-out or full-house concerts. Already he is increasingly being considered one of the most significant vocalists in the history of tango.

He is chiefly renowned for his extraordinarily beautiful tenor voice, his commanding and charismatic stage presence and his outstanding repertoire from four albums, which feature work by some of Argentina's most celebrated poets and composers, including rare work by Astor Piazzolla. On his latest tour he is also singing some of his, as yet unrecorded, compositions.

Alvarado's live performances are renowned for their mesmerising and emotionally engaging quality which allows him to cross the language barrier and leave a moving and memorable impression with his audiences.

In an artistic mission that aims to take tango beyond the cliche, his style brings to it a fresh contemporary sound which is already proving a significant influence in the evolution of the genre. Joining him on this mission for this concert is Mikko Helenius, of Finland. Helenius is a classically trained and highly accomplished pianist and bandoneon player who has the unique and remarkable ability to play both instruments simultaneously. Together, with Alvarado on acoustic guitar, they have an intuitive and often improvised musical relationship which allows them to create wonderful new and unique arrangements.

In his native Buenos Aires, Alvarado engenders much national pride for the way the way 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 Filharmonia orchestra.

Since then he has had numerous TV performances in Finland, Russia and Argentina and collaborated and performed with renowned Finnish tango quintet Otra Vez as well as some of the leading musicians in the genre in Argentina, including the highly revered bandoneon player, Leopoldo Federico, who was a guest performer on his second album, "Asi es mi tango", and Horacio Avilano, a prominent guitarist who worked with him on his last album "Más Allá".

He is currently working on his fifth album with Horacio Avilano and sixth album with Mikko Helenius.

"In Martin Alvarado's hands – and moreover his voice – tango has found not just a curator but an innovator to take it forward. If you get a chance to see this man grab it with both hands." www.worldmusic.co.uk