The Romero Guitar Quartet will perform in concert Saturday to kick off the week-long 5th Annual Quartz Mountain Music Festival; the students attending the festival’s 1st Annual Chamber Music/Orchestral Academy and the 2nd Annual Celedonio Romero Guitar Academy will give free public performances during the festival week in Altus, Cordell, Frederick, Granite, Hobart and Mangum.

Los Romeros (guitar quartet that played at the White House and before kings, queens and the Pope at the Vatican) will bring Southwest Oklahoma the truly intimate experience of the rhapsodic Spanish repertoire at 7 p.m. July 24 at the Western Oklahoma State College Herschal H. Crow Fine Arts Center in Altus. The artists will also teach the guitar academy in Granite during the festival week.

The “Royal Family of Guitar” involves three generations of Romero family guitarists. Celedonio Romero grew up in Franco’s Spain and founded the classical guitar quartet in 1960. Under Celedonio’s tutelage, his three sons--Angel, Celin and Pepe--made performing debuts by age seven. In 1957, the Romeros moved to the United States. Celin's son, Celino, replaced Angel in 1990; and Angel’s son, Lito, replaced Celedonio, who died in 1996. During the past year, Los Romeros performed across the globe--including China, Korea and Europe--and produced several recordings and DVDs.

“In the guitar academy, we are each teaching individually to accommodate students at all different levels,” Pepe Romero said. “For us, Quartz Mountain is a wonderful place where we can reenergize with the incredible energy that Quartz Mountain has. The meals we had last year (prepared by Granite volunteers) were wonderful, and I’m especially looking forward to the brisket. I hope everybody, lots of people, will come to the concerts and participate in this magnificent experience.”

The all-professional QMMF Chamber Players perform Friday, July 30; the QMMF Orchestra (joined by the Romeros and Orchestral Academy students) plays Saturday, July 31, both at 7 p.m. at the Robert M. Kerr Performing Arts Center in Quartz Mountain State Park. TTo purchase tickets, call the Altus Chamber of Commerce at 580-482-0210; for more information, call 580-649-7596 or visit the festival website at www.qmmf.org.

Free public concerts by the Chamber Music Academy fellows and guitar students are scheduled at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday, July 28 at WOSC in Altus, 1st Methodist Church in Mangum and 1st Methodist Church in Granite; and Thursday, July 29 at 1st Presbyterian Church in Cordell, Shortgrass Playhouse in Hobart and the Ramona Theater in Frederick.

The QMMF Board of Directors welcomes the public to observe, free of charge, the master classes for the Chamber Music/Orchestral Music Academy at WOSC--4:30 p.m. Monday, July 26 and Tuesday, July 27; 4:15 p.m. Wednesday, July 28; and 4 p.m. Friday, July 30. Guitar Master Classes at the Granite School are scheduled at 4 p.m. Sunday, July 25 through Thursday, July 29. A free student performance at the Quartz Mountain Performing Arts Center will conclude the festival at 2 p.m., Sunday, August 1. Call 580-649-7596 or 580-482-0210 to confirm the schedule prior to attending.

According to David Palmer, QMMF executive/artistic director, KCCU Radio of Lawton will lead “Concert Talk,” free pre-concert discussions from 6 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. July 24, 30 and 31, featuring program notes by John Boyle (instructor of theory and composition at Michigan’s Interlochen Center for the Arts), visits with selected musicians and audience question and answer participation.

Some of the finest professional players from the nation comprise the QMMF Chamber Music and Orchestra players. Chad Burrow, professor of clarinet at the University of Michigan, instructs students at music festivals around the world and will teach clarinet and coach chamber music at the QMMF academies. The European press credits Burrow, winner of numerous awards at national and international competitions, with “brilliant technique and tonal beauty, mixed with an expressive ferocity.”

“The addition of the student component will be that wonderful mix of energy from students and professionals working together,” Burrow said. “The festival itself is a wonderful experience with fantastic musicians, some of the highest caliber of music making that one can find anywhere in the country.”

Burrow’s wife, Amy Cheng, will perform on piano with the Quartz Mountain Chamber Players. Previously a professor of piano at Oklahoma State University and Oklahoma City University, she now is a collaborative pianist at the University of Michigan.

Steven Thomas, QMMF’s principal cellist and also a QMMF academy teacher, coordinates the string chamber music program at the University of Florida, where he is assistant professor of music. The 16-year collegiate-level instructor has played principal cellist in more than 1,500 orchestral concerts in tours all over the world.

“I’m going to have as my stand partner in the orchestra one of these great academy students. It will be a lot of fun to show him the tricks of the trade and share ideas,” Thomas said. “I’m looking forward in the next few years for it to just keep growing. It’s going to become a major event in the whole region.”

Brian McWhorter, professor of trumpet at the University of Oregon and Manhattan School of Music in New York City, will play principal trumpet and instruct in the chamber music and orchestral music academies. Originally from Oregon, he attended the Juilliard School of Music and played 300 to 400 concerts in New York, primarily in contemporary chamber music ensembles. He made three overseas tours with the American Sinfonietta, founded by QMMF Conductor Michael Palmer, and works with Palmer at the Bellingham Music Festival in Bellingham, Wash. He looks forward to meeting the academy students and reconnecting with the other musicians.

Kirsten Underwood, member of the Cameron University Music Department faculty in Lawton and principal cellist in the Lawton Philharmonic Orchestra, makes her fifth appearance in the QMMF orchestra. “It is a wonderful experience, a joy to play in the hall at Quartz and to play with the musicians that come from all over the country, especially the conductor, Michael Palmer,” Underwood said.