Grammy-winning Romeros guitar quartet to teach and perform

The move follows the demise of the Quartz Mountain Music Festival near Altus, which previously hosted the Institute. Organizers believe this one in Oklahoma City could now become an international event.

Well known in the music world as “The Royal Family of the Guitar,” the Romeros were subjects of a PBS-TV “American Masters” documentary, and their honors include Spanish knighthood and a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award. Their recordings number in the hundreds.

Patriarch Celedonio Romero, the late guitarist-composer-poet, created the guitar quartet with himself and his three children, Celin, Pepe, and Angel, all guitar virtuosos under his tutelage.

Now into the third generation with grandsons Celino and Lito, the California-based quartet performs recitals and with orchestras. Their repertoire ranges from Bach to flamenco and pieces composed for them. They recently returned from their fourth tour of China, and each Romero also maintains an international solo career.

Local music lovers know The Romeros from their longtime relationship with the Armstrong Auditorium concert series, both in Edmond and dating back to when the auditorium was in Southern California.

When a new home for the institute became necessary, Oklahoma City guitarist and educator Matt Denman, a student of Pepe Romero, was enlisted to take the reins and jumped at the opportunity.

“Pepe changed my life,” he said. “He has opened so many doors for me professionally, and as a teacher he changed the way I look at the guitar and at music, in such a positive light.”