Play that song again!

CEBU, Philippines - Adolfo Toyoda Timuat, the famed Filipino flamenco guitarist based in Spain, has made a global career out of guitar playing and making. He has two commercial recordings of solo instrumentals under his belt, Coin in the Ocean and Guitar Juice, the latter of which features his own compositions.

Adolfo is also a music teacher and luthier or guitar maker. From Monday to Thursday, he teaches guitar in Runnymede College, a British school in Madrid. Pupils, such as the children of football icon David Beckham, are given a personalized education as his sessions, which are styled after the old method of tutorials, are reserved for up to three students at most.

From Friday to Sunday, he attends to his taller or workshop, where he builds and sells his premium instruments, Adolfo Guitars, on Calle Valdebrid, Villanueva de la Torre, Guadalajara. The taller is 45 minutes north of Madrid on la caretara a Barcelona in Spain.

Adolfo has toured all over Europe, including, of course, Spain and his favorites England and Switzerland. He was featured in the shows of Joaquin Cortes, who is regarded as the most famous flamenco dancer in the world, and performed solo concerts with Tatyana Balashova, a Scottish-born Russian who is a star in Spain.

Most impressive, Adolfo has had several solo performances around the world, most notably in Carnegie Hall and Lincoln Center in New York City. 

The luthier does not neglect his passion for making guitars. After all, he is a holder of the Carnet de Artesano, the only Filipino, in fact, who may boast of the hard-to-acquire title for artists. For this, he had to pass the high standards of difficult-to-impress master craftsmen as well as build from scratch Spanish classical and flamenco guitars. They have differences in construction like, say, the former uses a slotted peg head and the latter features tap plates.

When he is away, Adolfo misses our local fruits like the mangga, lanzones, mangosteen, sampaloc, and guyabano. He just wishes he could visit the country more often, but the call of opportunities in other places must be heeded. Nevertheless, he finds himself coming to the Philippines a lot. If a planned collaboration with local musicians pushes through in December, that would be his third local stay for 2012.

Adolfo cites passion as key to his triumphs. The performer confesses that he is really an oddity in Spain, where most flamenco guitarists come from the country itself or from Latin America. "But nothing is impossible, if you love your art," he attests. "To achieve your dreams, you only have to keep reaching for the stars."

One memorable afternoon, I was lucky to be part of a very select group, who were given a private concert by the guitar master. Upon the invitation of Vicky Zubiri, President of the Filfest Cultural Foundation, we gathered at her residence for music, merienda, and fantastic company. Adolfo played several compositions on a splendid guitar and talked up our little group, all lovers of excellent music, especially world-class Filipino talent such as his. (FREEMAN)