Ronald Radford

Flamenco guitarist returns for concert

By JAMES D. WATTS JR. World Scene Writer
3/31/2007

Flamenco guitar master Ronald Radford returns to his hometown Saturday, to perform as part of what he calls his "Oklahoma Centennial Tour."

Radford, a former Tulsan who now lives in St. Louis, will perform at 8 p.m. Saturday in the Williams Theatre of the Tulsa Performing Arts Center, Second Street and Cincinnati Avenue.

Tickets for the concert are $25 each.

Saturday afternoon, from 1:30 to 3:30 p.m., Radford will conduct a guitar workshop, demonstrating the demanding techniques needed to play flamenco music. Cost is $10 adults, $5 students, and attendees are encouraged to bring their own guitars for some hands-on instruction.

Radford's interest in flamenco music began when his mother brought home a recording by Carlos Montoya. The same year Radford graduated from Will Rogers High School, he happened to meet Montoya and became his student.

Two years later, Radford was performing at Carnegie Hall, beginning a concert career that has taken him to four continents and earned him the title "the American master of flamenco guitar."

Radford was the first person to be awarded a Fulbright Scholarship to study flamenco among the Spanish gypsies who created this music.

A recent review of one of Radford's performances in Spain prompted one Madrid critic to write, "It has taken years for Radford to master the complex rhythms of Flamenco, but more important than the timing, he has duende, the Spanish equivalent of 'soul.' "

Even so, Radford says, "Wherever I travel, I continue to identify myself as an 'Okie' -- I still wear the gold 'Okie' pin Gov. David Boren once gave me to prove it.

"The success and happiness I've achieved in my life is the direct result of the core values of hard work, respect and responsibility I learned as a child growing up in Oklahoma," he said.

By JAMES D. WATTS JR. World Scene Writer