A man and his guitar

MANILA, Philippines - For the very first time, on one balmy afternoon, I had the pleasure to listen to the expert ministrations of the fingers of Adolfo Timuat, the famed Filipino flamenco guitarist based in Spain. Together with a very select group, gathered at the house of Vicky Zubiri, president of the Filfest Cultural Foundation and the mastermind of this enchanting affair, for a bit of music and high tea complete with raisin scones, tea cakes, and finger sandwiches of smoked salmon, roast ham, and cucumber.

Adolfo played several compositions on a splendid guitar, which he had made himself, and talked up our little group, all lovers of excellent music, as well.

That enjoyable encounter was happily repeated when, upon the invitation of Martin Lopez, chairman of the President’s Committee on Culture of the Far Eastern University, I attended the special concert that Adolfo held in conjunction with the ongoing 2012-2013 cultural season of his alma mater.

Though not quite popular in the Philippines as he certainly deserves to be, Adolfo Toyoda Timuat has made a global career out of guitar playing and making. So far, 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. Most impressive, Adolfo has had several solo performances around the world, most notably in Carnegie Hall and Lincoln Center in New York City. 

Aside from being an accomplished flamenco guitarist, Adolfo is a music teacher and luthier, a 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 highly personalized education as his sessions, which are styled after the old method of tutorials, are reserved for up to three students at most. He also teaches young kids, who, aside from learning how to play the ukulele, are schooled in the construction of the instrument.

From Friday to Sunday, he attends to his taller or workshop, where he builds and sells his premium guitars, on Calle Valdebrid, Villanueva dela Torre, Guadalajara. If you ever find yourself in Spain, the taller is 45 minutes north of Madrid on lacaretara a Barcelona.

Born to a Filipino father and a Japanese mother, Adolfo’s early years were spent in Okinawa. As a young boy, his family moved back to Manila, the very place where his love for music was awakened. Before the days of gadgets and the World Wide Web, he stumbled upon his father’s phonograph, which played the sounds of Spain, the instrumental guitar and the classica and Sevillanas. When he heard the bright percussive beats, he knew right away that music was for him. In fact, at the age of 13, Adolfo taught himself how to play the guitar.

At 15, he started performing in the folk houses around universities, including the famous ‘70s hangout Butterfly near the University of the Philippines. Then, Adolfo graduated to the bigger, more important venues like the watering holes of Manila Hotel, Hyatt Hotel, and Silahis Hotel.

In between playing, he frequented the Cultural Center of the Philippines to listen and, more important, get pointers from visiting foreign guitar masters, who were guests of then First Lady Imelda Marcos.

Later, at 17, he himself took to the stage of the CCP, performing with highly acclaimed Ruben Nieto and Rose Borromeo, the top dancers of the time.

Because of his love affair with the guitar, he only finished the third year of his Civil Engineering course at FEU. He chose instead to refocus his studies with some courses at the UP College of Music. Lessons on flamenco guitar were not available, so the student zeroed in on the Indian sitar, which, he says, is the closest to his preferred instrument.

An encounter with American actor Anthony Zerbe proved to be serendipitous to his young career. While shooting a film in Manila, the actor chanced upon a guitar player in his hotel. When he remarked about his skill, the guitar player recommended a meeting with his more skilled teacher, Adolfo.

After a private – and life-changing – performance at the guitarist’s home, the American promised Adolfo that he would bring him to the United States. Anthony also recorded the impromptu session and sent the tapes to Carnegie Hall. The guitarist didn’t think much about it until he received an invitation to play at the US venue. There, aside from Carnegie, he also performed at the Lincoln Center, thus beginning an international career.

During his stint in New York, Adolfo got a scholarship to Spain for further studies on the flamenco guitar. He shares that, apart from being an educational tour, the trip had become one big immersion in the Spanish way of life. Adolfo had fallen in love with everything and stayed.

Adolfo has toured all over Europe, including, of course, Spain and his favorites England and Switzerland. He was featured in 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.

The guitarist was particularly busy last May, when he performed 22 times in 17 cities such as Madrid, Barcelona, and the party capital of Ibiza in Spain, London and Wales in Great Britain, Belfast in Ireland, Milan and Venice in Italy, among others.

“It was really a crazy schedule! In one city, I remember staying in the hotel for only four hours,” he says. Adolfo would literally fly through his stops – the airport, hotel, concert venue, and back to the airport. The guitarist has conquered this challenge, yet he promises never to repeat another hectic tour again.

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.

He has gathered enough wood for the creation of 3,000 high-quality Adolfo Guitars. The make up of such an instrument is truly remarkable as its components are sourced from around the world. The sound board or the front is spruce from Germany. The back is rosewood from India and Madagascar. The finger board is ebony from Cameron. The nylon strings are from Spain. Finally, the neck is mahogany from the Philippines. This last piece is the very same material that is used by Herman Hansen, the guitar builder of the genius classical player Andres Segovia. 

Even if he spends most of his time outside the country, Adolfo is fiercely proud of his heritage. Several of his friends have even mentioned that he tries very hard to be Filipino. “To be honest, mahal ko talaga ang Pilipinas,” he says.

For his homeland, the performer dreams of establishing an institute for the guitar. But it seems that Malaysia has beaten us to the punch with their own Asian Institute of Guitar. The fast-moving country has already invited Adolfo to head the center, but he is very intent on creating the special organization in the Philippines.

When he is away, Adolfo misses our local fruits like mango, 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. “Perseverance really is important. To achieve your dreams, you only have to keep reaching for the stars.”