Val Ramos

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Val Ramos, Flamenco Guitarist

Val Ramos is considered to be one of the best Nuevo Flamenco guitarists in the United States. A native of New York City (of Puerto Rican parents), Val has toured the United States and Spain with his ensemble which includes his brother Jose Ramon Ramos. At the early age of 14, he studied Flamenco guitar with Spanish (Malaga) Flamenco master Adonis Puerta in New York City. In 1981, he graduated from Ezra Stiles College at Yale University, where he and his brother José continued to learn the guitar. He made his professional debut in the Disney Channel in 1985 and has since released three independent albums under the PIRAM Records label. He has been featured in major international music festivals in the U.S. and Spain. He holds the distinction of being the first non-Spaniard guitarist to perform at the King Juan Carlos I of Spain Center in New York City. Flamenco Connection has described his ensemble (Val Ramos Flamenco Ensemble) as "a hidden treasure of Flamenco in the Americas. Superb musicianship..." and Rootsworld.com has described his music as "the best of classical Flamenco brought to modern standards." His music is described as highly original and lyrical with a strong traditional Flamenco foundation. Some of his musical compositions are featured in the documentaries Puerto Rican Passages (1996 Connecticut Public Television) and Nuyoricans (2001 WNET Thirteen/PBS). He has met and been inspired by some of the great legends of Flamenco guitar including Paco de Lucia, Sabicas, and Mario Escudero. He has ventured briefly into Latin and Puerto Rican music with a cameo performance (also featuring his ensemble) with the international Grammy winner and Queen of Salsa, the late- Celia Cruz in Hartford, Connecticut in 2000, and with an opening for three-time Puerto Rican Grammy nominee Danny Rivera at the Nuyorican Poets Cafe in New York City in June 2002. Over the past ten years he has performed and collaborated with such renowned international Flamenco artists as Domingo Alvarado, Luis Vargas, Arturo Martinez, Dionisia Garcia, Alfonso Mogaburo, Dominico Caro, Fernando de Malaga, La Conja, and the late-Rafael Fajardo, to name just a few. In the summer of 2005, he toured in Spain with his ensemble under the auspices of the United States Embassy in Spain.