Celedonio Romero

Celedonio Romero (2 March 1913 – 8 May 1996) was a guitarist, composer and poet, perhaps best known as the founder of The Romeros guitar quartet.

Celedonio Romero was born in Cienfuegos, Cuba while his parents were on a business trip to the island. He began playing the guitar at the age of 5, and eventually studied music theory, harmony, composition, and counterpoint at the Conservatory of Málaga and at the Madrid Royal Conservatory, where he was taught by Joaquín Turina. Romero never studied with a guitar teacher. Although he made his concert debut at the age of 22 and was well known in Spain, the Franco government refused to permit him to give concerts abroad, keeping him unknown from the rest of the world. His wife, Angelita, was a singer and stage actress who had studied at Málaga's Royal Academy of Fine Arts.

After secretly obtaining an American visa, the family secured permission to visit an ailing relative in Portugal in 1957. However, rather than returning to Spain, the family settled in Southern California, and Celedonio and his three sons Celin, Pepe, and Angel started a guitar quartet, The Romeros, and also began to take on guitar students. Celedonio Romero was Christopher Parkening's first teacher; and then Pepe also taught Parkening. Angelita Romero can be heard playing castanets on some of the quartet's recordings.

Celedonio made a large number of recordings, both solo and with the Romeros, which appeared on the Delos and Philips labels. He also wrote over 100 compositions for guitar, including a dozen concertos.

Romero died of lung cancer at the age of 83 in San Diego, California. He was inducted into the Orden de Isabel la Católica by King Juan Carlos I. He was also made a "Caballero del Santo Sepulcro" ("Knight of the Holy Sepulchre") by Pope John Paul II.

...
Wikipedia