The Victoria Bach Festival is pleased to welcome Flamenco Symphony to Victoria on June 9 for a free concert at DeLeon Plaza. The band’s approach is inspired by traditional and nuevo flamenco styles, rock ‘n’ roll, and elements of world and classical music.  We asked Flameco Symphony guitarist David Massey a few questions about their upcoming concert.

VBF: What drew you to flamenco?
When I first heard recordings of flamenco guitarist Carlos Montoya, I immediately felt connected to his musical language and the scales that he used.  I was also impressed by how much he was able to accomplish with just one guitar.  The melody, harmony, strumming, percussion—it was all there.

VBF: Which song do you want to cover that you haven’t already?
Vicente Amigo‘s “Poeta” is a great album of flamenco guitar with orchestra.  We’ve done a couple of pieces off it already, but “El Mar De Tu Sentir” would be another great song to add.

VBF: What makes flamenco, flamenco?
The most important aspects of flamenco are the scales and rhythms.  The Phrygian Mode is the most common scale, and some of the most popular rhythms that we include are the rumba, bulerias, and tangos.

VBF: What are you looking forward to about the festival?
We’re looking forward to playing for an audience that appreciates great music!  It really makes a difference for us to be able to feed off the energy of the crowd.

VBF: Tell us a little bit what you’ll be playing.
We’ve got a lot of original material with a few well-known covers thrown in.  The original songs use flamenco as the foundation, but have other infuences, like Arabic, Celtic, and rock music.

Flamenco Symphony performs a FREE concert on Friday, June 9, at DeLeon plaza in downtown Victoria.

Watch Flamenco Symphony in performance.

View the entire 2017 Festival schedule, including FREE noon concerts.