Val's Guitar Pages
Valdemar Phoenix posesses a great store of flamenco knowledge, culture, and history, distilled from his career spanning over three decades. He is a true maestro in the performance as well as educational sense. His flamenco tradition is grounded in the music of his mentors, Mario Escudero and Sabicas. He has also been highly influenced by the work of Manolo Sanlucar, for whom he has special respect. Valdemar understands not only the notes in the music, but the essence of each flamenco palo or style. His special talent is taking a flamenco theme and arranging it for his musical ensemble, which includes voice, flute, violin, and percussion. For this reason, he is not merely a guitarist, but a flamenco musician. Therefore, his music is a contemporary expression of a very traditional sound. He is also an accompanist of the flamenco dance, and the song (cante), which is the essence of the art. He is the musical director of Lucia & Valdemar Flamenco. He has taught numerous flamenco guitar students in the Houston area, many of whom have gone on to work with other flamenco groups. He also developed and taught the History of the Modern Guitar at the music department of the University of Houston-Downton. He has recorded 3 CDs and one full-length performance video, and was cofounder of the Houston Society of Flamenco Arts, which produced Houston's only ongoing concert series from 1983 through 2009. His current project is producing the house concert series at Casa de Lucia with his wife Lucia.