Flamenco guitarist Maurice Leenaars

1 (solo) performer

Indoor and outdoor

Guitarist

1 hour

In consultation

ES, NL, EN

Also, watch some of my videos here.
In addition to my own flamenco work on solo guitar, I can also perform with pre-recorded guitar accompaniment over which I play live, if desired. The effect then is two guitars, and this music mostly involves flamenco rumba, always with my own style and improvisations

My fourth album PRELUDIO was released online in 2021, and, like my CD EL CALOR (2010), is available to stream via many platforms, including Spotify (link attached below and to the header image),
In addition to my own flamenco work on solo guitar, I can, if desired, also perform with pre-recorded guitar accompaniment of my own over which I play live. So the effect then is two guitars, and this swinging music mostly involves flamenco rumba based and inspired by The Gipsy Kings, Paco de Lucía, Armik, among others, and always in my own style and improvisations.

I have my own guitar amp, microphone, and accessories.
The indicated duration can be split into two half-hour sessions by mutual agreement.

ABOUT ME:
Maurice Leenaars (Eindhoven, 1966)
As a child of about seven years old I already wanted to become a professional flamenco guitarist 'later'. My father, an amateur guitarist, had inspired me with flamenco LPs, and he taught me some simple Spanish melodies. Later he sent me on, but that teacher couldn't teach me flamenco. After a year, that one sent me on to music school, but there was no flamenco training there either.

I gave up my goal, and plunged into the classical repertoire. After completing music school, I automatically went to study at the conservatory in Tilburg for five years. After the fourth year (1988) I hitchhiked to Seville during the summer vacations, again triggered by flamenco. My graduation year of 1989 I spent almost entirely on flamenco self-study.

Three weeks after my classical guitar graduation, I took the train to the southern Spanish port city of Huelva, eventually ending up back in Seville via Cadiz, and living there for a year. Day and night there I kept myself busy with self-study, mastering almost daily in the bar Taberna El Perejíl accompanying sevillanas, which formed my basis for accompanying flamenco singing in general. Also in Seville, I obtained my first jobs as a flamenco guitarist at a dance school and in a music group (sevillanas and rumbas). The dance school turned out to be my foundation for later high-level dance coaching.

Back in the Netherlands I continued to give concerts (in many variations such as soloistic, with singing and dancing and with various musicians) and teaching. For 17 years I worked at various flamenco dance schools in Eindhoven, Den Bosch and Tilburg. I now have four CDs of my own work to my name, the last two of which (El Calor and Preludio) can also be heard on platforms such as Spotify. I have collaborated on CDs by various artists. I play my own compositions, and some I arranged for big-band instrumentation. Some ninety (concert) videos of mine can be seen on YouTube.

I played with big names in jazz, such as saxophonist Paul van Kemenade and trumpeter Eric Vloeimans. For them I wrote and/or arranged my own work.

I have done radio and TV performances, nationally as well as provincially/regionally.

A celebrity in flamenco with whom I was allowed to do a short Dutch tour in 2022 is the flamenco singer Montse Cortés. She has worked intensively with the guitar great Paco de Lucía. A piece from our performance can also be seen on YouTube, also attached here on my profile.

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