Ranch & Coast Magazine

COURTESY PHOTOGRAPHY The Royal Family of the Guitar Celebrating with a 60th anniversary concert at the Ritz S IXTY-FOUR YEARS AGO, IN 1957, guitarist and classically-trained composer Celedonio Romero emigrated to the United States from Spain with his wife and three sons, Celín, Pepe, and Ángel. He was looking for personal and artistic freedom from Franco's autocratic rule, and the family soon settled in the Santa Barbara area where Romero was not only able to practice his craft, but where he would invent an entirely new genre of music, the guitar quartet. Pepe, the middle of the three sons, says, "[My father] loved to be together with us and he loved to work with four voices." But there was no music for four guitars at the time, so Celedonio set about writing and arranging music for the four of them to play, much of it inspired by Spain's rich history of guitar music. And so came into being a new musical art form, one now taught in music programs around the world and one that would eventually lead to Celedonio being knighted by King Juan Carlos I of Spain and the quartet being inducted into the Orden de Isabel la Católica, Spain's highest honor. In 1961, the group made its first tour of the United States, including performances at the Hollywood Bowl and Carnegie Hall, as well as an appearance on The Ed Sullivan Show. Pepe is quick to point out, "My brother Celín deserves much of the credit. He is the one who found the first manager to represent us." They had a new sound that was at the same time rich in tradition, and the Romeros soon became known as "The Royal Family of the Guitar." They collaborated with many of the world's finest conductors, while acclaimed Spanish composers Joaquín Rodrigo and Federico Moreno Torroba came forward with pieces written specifically for them to perform. They played at the Vatican and at The White House, by invitation of two presidents, as well as for royalty across Europe. For six decades, The Romero Guitar Quartet, now into a third generation, has been thrilling audiences around the globe and would have been doing so again this year with a 60th anniversary tour if not for the pandemic. Instead, they will be celebrating 60 years — including the last 40-plus in which they have lived in Del Mar — with a benefit concert on Sunday, December 12, at the historic Ritz Theater in downtown Escondido, only their fourth live performance of the year. The Ritz has been fully renovated and updated, and is now part of the new Grand Building, making this an incredible opportunity — and the only one in San Diego for the foreseeable future — to hear "The Royal Family of the Guitar." VIP tickets are available for a meet and greet with the Romeros prior to the show and all proceeds will go to Restoration Community Arts, which works to restore downtown theaters and revitalize communities by providing affordable state-of-the-art facilities, education, and access to the performing arts. theritzescondido.org BILL ABRAMS Detour culture @ranchandcoast ranchandcoast.com 102 DECEMBER 2021 RANCH & COAST MAGAZINE The Ritz Theater The Romeros

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