Mexican flamenco guitarist to perform at WVU Creative Arts Center

April 6th, 2004

Rafael Cuen Garibi *Rafael Cuen Garibi

Flamenco guitarist Rafael Cuen Garibi, a faculty member at the University of Guanajuato School of Music in Mexico, will be a guest artist at the West Virginia University College of Creative Arts during April 13-15.

Garibi will perform a guitar recital Tuesday, April 13, at 8:15 p.m. in the Bloch Learning and Performance Hall (Room 200A) of the Creative Arts Center. The program will include mostly his own compositions, as well asZapateado en Reby Sabicas and Garibi’s arrangement ofNana de Sevillaby G. Lorca.

The following day, Wednesday, April 14, he will present a Flamenco Workshop at the CAC in Room 213A from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m. Both the guitar recital and the flamenco workshop are free and open to the public.

In addition, Garibi will perform as guest artist at the annual World Music and Dance Concert on Thrusday, April 15, at 7:30 p.m. in the Lyell B. Clay Concert Theatre. Tickets for this concert are available at the Mountainlair and CAC Box Offices or by calling (304) 293-SHOW.

Garibi is currently professor of music and coordinator of the guitar program at the University of Guanajuato School of Music, where he also oversees the electronic music laboratory. He was born in Mexico and started studying Flamenco guitar at age seven. He later joined the flamenco group,The Romanceros,in Guanajuato and studied with classical guitarists Urban Gomez and Pepe Muoz of Spain, Pedro Sergio Salcedo and Ricardo Carrillo of Mexico, and Leo Brouwer of Cuba.

He received a bachelor’s degree in music from the University of Guanajuato and has performed many concerts and recitals throughout Mexico. He has performed as a soloist with the Symphony Orchestra of the Univeristy of Guanajuato and with the Chamber Orchestra. Currently he is a member of the Guitar Quartet and the Early Music Ensemble, where he plays lute, guitar and percussion instruments. He has also performed concerts and master classes at the University of Texas, Southern Oregon University and the University of Santiago, Chile, and has composed and arranged music of many different styles.

For more information, contact the College of Creative Arts at (304) 293-4841 ext. 3108.