“Music is an art. It’s not something we do just for fun. It’s a very necessary medium to enrich our spirit and connect with one another. To connect and feel the one-ness and enjoy each other.” That is precisely what Pepe Romero, one of the founding members of The Romero Quartet, does each and every day.
Also known as Los Romeros, The Romero Quartet has achieved a rarified status for their recordings and performances of the classical music repertoire. In 2014 they were awarded The Recording Academy’s President’s Merit Award. Their nickname is The Royal Family of the Guitar.
This year The Romero Quartet is celebrating their 60th anniversary, even if it’s not quite the way they had imagined. Their Diamond Anniversary is beginning with a streaming concert from Solano Beach’s Belly Up on Sunday, May 23rd at 5:00 PM ET/2:00 PM PT. They will showcase the genre they created: the guitar quartet.
In spite of the circumstances that require a streaming concert rather than a tour, Romero is happy that he and his family can play for an audience – even a digital one, as he told me by phone last week.
“To be a musician you have to want to share. It’s like being a chef,” he said. “You love cooking, but you ultimately want people to enjoy what you have done. You do it to bring joy, to bring happiness. When you are streaming it’s like writing a letter to a dear friend. You aren’t talking to the paper, you are talking to a friend. Streaming for me is a wonderful medium the has really had to rescue musicians in this time of isolation.”
Romero began the quarantine in lockdown in Spain.
“I was in Granada from March until August. My brothers, my children, my nephews were all in California. Since August, when I came back, we have been sitting outside, bringing the guitars into the backyard and playing together and for each other. Each of us loves music. I’ve never played the guitar more than I have during this pandemic.”
Amongst the composers whose work Romero and the Quartet regularly perform is that of Joaquin Rodrigo – a man who passionately believed in live performance. He said, “To listen to records is a sin of narcissism. It is important to hear music live, in concert, which is a source of emotions that a record can never convey.”
While Romero agrees with Rodrigo, he does find a distinction between the two that, at least in that quote, Rodrigo doesn’t acknowledge.
“He was one of our dearest friends. I do agree with him, but everything has its place,” he told me. “I’m very grateful for all the many moments I have been with the guitar that have been preserved by recordings for generations to come. Anything that preserves a moment in time for people in the future to be able to enjoy it is a great thing. I can tell you that Rodrigo himself enjoyed recordings immensely. Of course, the feeling of live music is unlike any other thing.”
After comparing music to watching old movies or looking at photographs, portraits and art, Romero revealed a humorous nickname his wife has for him.
“She calls me a pleasure pig,” he says followed by a huge laugh. “She means it as a compliment. By nature I like to take pleasure. I like to look for what – in this moment – is bringing me enjoyment and I enjoy it.”
I reminded Romero that Apollo was the God of art and music and Hedone (whose name inspired hedonism) was the goddess of pleasure and enjoyment, so he’s in good company.
“Yes, a long line of pleasure pigs. And I’m looking very much forward to this Sunday when I will sit with my brother, my nephews, playing guitars by my son, by my grandson. I think this is probably the first time that classical music is played at the Belly Up. It is a place that people normally go in the spirit of celebration. We really want this to be a party on live streaming.” In other words, to provide the pleasure he enjoys.
Romero, who is 77, seems to have an innate ability to always find the good in whatever situation he faces.
“I have felt great sadness for the loss of so many people to this virus. But music keeps you hopeful. I always felt that soon it will become better. I prayed for it. What happens with music is that you not only enjoy it, but music can be a powerful way to pray.”
Having spent time this past year learning new pieces, composing new works and practicing for hours, Romero has no plans to stop performing.
“I want to keep doing it for as long as I can. I want to play. I want to share with the public as long as I can bring joy to the public. I find playing music very rejuvenating. It replenishes me more than sleep. I dreams of new ways to finger a piece, new places on the guitar, new pieces of music. I dream a lot with music. I think my connection to the guitar will go on even after I can no longer play it. I don’t envision it, but it comes for all of us. “
To see a documentary on The Romero Quartet’s 60th Anniversary, please go here.
Tickets for Sunday’s streaming concert from Belly Up can be purchased here. Tickets are $20 and there’s also a $35 ticket that comes with an autographed poster. The concert will remain available on demand through May 30th.
Photo: Los Romeros (L-R Lito, Celino, Pepe, Celin) onstage in Adelaide (Photo by Tony Lewis/Courtesy of Adelaide Guitar Festival Adelaide)