1993_03 Insight March 1993

              -— - ;-,    ,. >•-.— --.     ,.
-  ■
■
Page 6
March 24 1993
Spanish dancing
and music liven
guitar festivities
By George
Constantinopoulos
Staff Writer
Juan Serrano, widely recognized as
ihe world's greatest flamenco guitarist, will perform in concert at the 1993
Guitar Festival on Saturday, April 3.
Serrano'spcrformance with the Ecos
de Espafia Spanish Dance Company
and guitarists Lcng Widjaja and Nancy
Lee will finish the Fresno Guitar
Society"sannual festival co-sponsored
by the CSUF music department. The
concert at the Tower Theater begins
at 8:00 p.m. with reserved sealing for
S22.50.
The Guitar Festival picks off with
an Expo at Manchester Center on
Sunday from noon to 4 p.m.   The
performance will be at the Sears entrance ofthe mall.
An open guitar competition at the
Wahlberg Recital Hall at CSUF begins at 2 p.m. Monday. A performance by Erik Dean highlights at
CSUF on Tuesday, March 30 at 8
p.m. and a high school competition at
CSUF is on the schedule for March
31. The CSUF Guitar Ensemble will
perform in the New Recital Hall at 1
p.m. April I.
Two events arc on the program for
April 2. A lecture by guitarist David
Grimes begins at the Wahlberg Recital Hall at 2 p.m. and at 7 p.m., finals
for the open and high school competitions start at Wahlberg.
Tickets for the Juan Serrano flamenco concert can be purchased at
the Tower Theater, (209) 485-9050.
Matt Soby/lNsiGirr
Juan Serrano, recognized by some as the world's greatest flamenco artist, has more than 25 commercial recordings.
Flamenco guitarist guided by
heart to a pulsing Spanish beat
♦ Music professor
fuan Serrano—
driven to perform
the music he loves.
By George
Constantinopoulos
Staff Writer
Antonio Serranoand his wife Cecilia
Rodriguez traveled the dusty roads
that led from their beloved Cordoba
in the mountain region of Andalucia
to the rest of Spain in the '30s. Their
popularity as "Antonio le del Lunar"
the flamenco guitarist and "N in a de la
Sierra" the flamenco dancer brought
them io the little provinces, fanning
towns and big cities of Espafla.
Tucked away on these journeys was
Juaniio, his brother Francisco and their
sister Carmen. Bouncing on the scats
of the various cars, laxis and occasional trains, littlcJuan slept, father's
guitar alongside humming as it was
jarred with every pothole. It was here
that flamenco began to pulse its path
through Juanito Serrano, coursing to
his fingertips which years later would
dance upon ihe frets of acoustical
guitars. The grown up Juan Serrano
later would be acclaimed as the greatest flamenco guitarist in the world.
Juan Serrano occupies an office now
in the New Music Building at CSUF.
Since the '50s he has continually
toured the world playing flamenco
music, sometimes with the accompaniment of dancers, other musicians
even wiih poetry and spoken-word
readings. With more than 25 commercial recordings and numerous instructional books to his credit, Serrano
is a seemingly tireless performing artist and instructor.
Influenced by flamenco music as a
baby traveling with his parents,
Serrano began to play guitar when he
was nine years old. By the time he
was 13 he had made his professional
debut and by 14 he had recorded an
album that was an instant success in
Spain.
Known as "The Diminutive,"
Serrano practiced hard, studied and
had little time for much else. "Of
course it was very hard," Serrano said
with his prevalent Spanish accent. "I
never had time to play with other
children. As soon as I come home
from school my mother (and) my
grandma said, 'Take your guitar!' and
I'd have to lake my guitar, go to my
room and practice two or three hours."
The first recording Serrano made
was in 1949. He attributes its popularity to the fact that he had a different
style from the other guitarists Spain
was familiar with. "The structure of
guitar music normally was only for
accompaniment: dance and song.
When I made my first recording, I
created something different Other
guitarists played rhythms to accompany and I created melody and this
was the big difference. It was something very strange, very new and became very popular right away."
Serrano's recognition grew fast. In
1959, American television host and
personality Ed Sullivan toured Spain
and saw him perform. Sullivan
brought Serrano to America to perform for the national broadcast audience. Then for two months Serrano
played for S u) li van again at the Desert
Inn in Las Vegas.
In 1961, Electra Records signed
Serrano to a recording contract His
first American album was called "Olc
La Mano" which literally translates
to "Good Hand."
In 1963, Serrano decided to stay in
The United States permanently. It
was during a tour that he met Kathy,
his wife of 20 years. Introduced al a
formal party in Detroit, Mich., in May
1972, they kept in contact when both
were in Spain- Juan for a tour and
Kathy on vacation. They married in
America and lived in Michigan and
hadiwochildren- Nancy, 16and Anna
Maria, 14.
Serrano came to Fresno at the end of
1979. "I was never satisfied in Michigan," Serrano said. "I don't like the
cold weather, I don't like snow." The
Serrano's decided to live in Fresno
largely because ofthe weather and
location, believing it would be a
nice environment for their daughters to grow up in. Fresno's weather
reminded Serrano of his Spanish
hometown Cordoba. "Cordoba is
very similar to Fresno. Very mild
winter and in the summer it's very
hot but very dry."
While living in Fresno. Serrano
was approached to leach at CSUF.
At the beginning he was undecided, but he felt an obligation to
share his knowledge with as many
students as possible.
For 10 years he has taught at
CSUF, first as a part-time lecturer
then for the past eight years as a
full professor. While Serrano holds
an Honorary Doctorate of Humane
Letters from Fairfield University,
his real qualifications to instruct
come from his vast experience in
performance.
Jack Former, music department
chair, said that Serrano recruits
students just with his name and
keeps them with his personality.
"He docs attract a lot of students,"
Former said. "He's very congenial, a good guy."
See Serrano, page 7.
PHIL SEIMAIMDI   Q<|
::. ;.i  Ti-  ;?
RMS REALTY
REAL ESTATE MARKETING SERVICES
1700 E. Bullard, Suite 104
Fresno, Ca. 93710
BUS(209) 261-1700 RES(209) 255-7921
Javier's
Lunch Special (11:00 to 2:00)
Large Combination $3.00
Small Combination $2.85
660 S. Clovis Ave. Ronald Duron 252-4511
/F
Campus radio station KFSR 90.7 fm
is now accepting applications for the
year May 15,1993 - May 15,1994 for
the following positions:
Station Manager
Program Director
Music Director
Promotions Director
Traffic Director
Public Affairs Director
News Director
Sports Director
Application deadline for Station Manager is Monday March 29 at 4:30.
Deadlines for the other positions are Friday April 2 at 4:30. Applications may be picked up at the Telecommunications Office in the
Speech Arts Building. KFSR is an Equal Opportunity-Employer, with
all majors encouraged to apply.
For more information call 278-2598.
FIJI
WISHES GOOD LUCK
TO ITS FOOTBALL
TEAM IN THE
SECOND ANNUAL
DZ BOWL.
The Resume Center
a Complete
Resume Service
CALL 229-2155
for appointment,
and ask about
special rates for
graduating students.
Luna Pizzeria & Italian Restaurant
I 1 1
I 2 Rigatoni Dinners m
j   with meatballs   \2 Calzom Doimersj
and salad with salad
! $10. oo^ i $io. oo+ r~ !
| $2.00 OFF any large pizza | *
349 Pollasky Ave., Clovis Since 1969
(Between3rd &4th) 299-4141
r tfiis coupon when you purchase a 1/4(8 or 1/216 Itfzard'Burger*
and get a TX&E order of frits
J  WIZARD'S "SUPREME
1/4 lb Burger w/ Ham,Turkey, Pastrami,
Cheese, Ortega, Lettuce, Tomato, Pickles,
& Onion. Served on a Lightly Seasoned
J1.1 Toasted Bun...only $2.89
Located on Ccdar/Nees behind Johnny Quick -131-8522
THE =£	
DAILY £^H
.PLANET " to£i££i
IJmWmmmh
PRICE FIXED SUPPERS  (Good thru 4/8)
Appetizer:     Grilled Marinated Vegetables
with Fennel Aioli
Choice of:      Soup: Cream of Leek, Sallad: Mixed Greens
withHoney Mustard Dressing
Choice of:      Fish-Grilled Salmon with Currant Glaze      $13.00
Chicken-Casserole with Mushrooms, Fresh
Herbs, Roasted Tomato Sauce and Cheese $ 10,00
Beer-Wine Braised Italian Pot Roast $11,00
Served with: Polental With Cheese & Steamed Asparagus
Choice of:    Apple Tart With Cleaar Caramel Sauce, Brandy
Espresso Mousse With Semi-Sweet Chocolate
• • • CALL FOR RESERVATIONS • •
1211 N. WISHON • TOWER DISTRICT • (209) 266-4259
INSIGHT Advertising
"I swear it works!"
278-3934