Love of flamenco leads Bath native to distinct musical style

by Wendy Turrell

In a discipline where artists usually specialize, Marija Temo, acclaimed flamenco performer and teacher, has tackled all three flamenco traditions – guitar, voice and dance.

Her love of flamenco music began in her hometown of Bath. Temo’s mother loved flamenco music, but she was unable to find much of it in the U.S. When her parents built a house in Bath, her mother discovered that their neighbor, Martha SidAhmed, was a flamenco dancer. The women began a lifelong friendship that launched Temo’s artistic journey.

SidAhmed began teaching 6-year-old Temo flamenco dance. When she was 8, Temo’s teacher found a flamenco guitarist to accompany dancers during performances. Temo was immediately smitten and wanted to study flamenco guitar as well.

Her parents, Joan and Lawrence Temo, thought she was too young to take guitar lessons, but Temo begged to learn. When she was 9, they relented, and she started folk and classical guitar lessons with Akronite Edward Mahoney, continuing for the next 10 years.

Temo said finding flamenco recordings – or anyone who could dance, play or sing flamenco – was very difficult back then. Then her parents learned of flamenco guitarist Bruce Catalano in Cleveland Heights, and she started lessons with him when she was 11.

“My dad would drive me to his apartment every Saturday for guitar lessons, and we would get ice cream on the way home,” Temo said.

About this time, SidAhmed moved away, and the Temos began hosting a yearly, days-long flamenco “juerga,” or celebration, at their home to reunite former students and others in the flamenco community.

Temo described the family’s summers: “I remember as many as 50 flamenco enthusiasts … with tents in the backyard and sleeping bags on the floor. It was a holiday weekend of flamenco sharing and a gold mine of learning for me.”

Temo’s love of music was multidimensional. She excelled in choirs and music at Revere High School, while also performing in a Serbian choir in Cleveland. In 1998, Revere High School created the “Marija Temo Award” for choral performers. In 2002, Temo was inducted into Revere’s Hall of Fame.

After graduating from Revere High School, Temo attended Baldwin Wallace University, where she earned her bachelor’s degree in music, majoring in classical guitar performance. She continued her study of classical guitar at the esteemed Peabody Conservatory, earning a master’s degree.

Temo developed her own way to meld classical and flamenco guitar elements. “I found a right-hand position that allowed me to seamlessly and effortlessly access both classical and flamenco techniques, which in turn broadened my playing and composing abilities with new colors and tones,” she explained.

When she was performing in the late 1990s, Temo wanted to grow her repertoire as a flamenco singer.

“I decided to try singing and playing simultaneously,” she explained. “I carefully coordinated the disciplines, and from then on, they became inseparable. A source of creativity, inspiration and growth.”

At the time, Temo was working as a vocal and guitar accompanist to dancers. “It seemed only logical to leave the dancing behind. I knew that singing and playing was [my] preferred direction,” she said.

Temo is a powerhouse of varied musical talents. She minored in voice during her musical studies, and she “sang serious repertoire in Bach Festivals” as well as studied conducting.

She is also a composer, melding flamenco and classical music in concepts, structure, sound and phrasing. “I compose for flamenco dance. I have also composed guitar solos and guitar and vocal arrangements,” Temo said.

This blend of abilities has led to various projects over the years. “I was music director, composer, arranger and performer for a flamenco Nutcracker production, where I melded Tchaikovsky’s music with flamenco.”

Most recently, she was music director and flamenco singer for a production entitled “Dances with Dalí” that brought Dalí’s paintings to life.

In addition to her professional career, Temo teaches classical and flamenco guitar at the Wisconsin Conservatory of Music. She was guitar chair for nine years and still teaches part time.

Temo has developed two distinctive teaching programs. One method helps performers develop their flamenco skills, using an analytic approach to break down flamenco rhythms.

“I give students simple graphic charts I devised to follow the song forms, showing specific singing notes needed to convey phrase endings and typical chord progressions to the guitarist,” she explained. “I also list the dance structure. I then combine participants – dancers, guitarists and singers – having them apply and interact with these elements.”

Her other program is called Flamenco Amazement, a workshop that exposes a lay audience to flamenco music with audience participation, to foster understanding and appreciation for the art.

Temo said flamenco has changed over the years, becoming more expansive, incorporating contemporary dance movements and staging large theatrical productions.

In March, Temo appeared in just such a production when the Akron Civic Theater hosted “Flamenco Fiesta! Music, Dance, and Story for All Ages.”

Some of her upcoming projects include composing and arranging a concert to showcase cultural songs and music from Spain, Serbia and Latin America for piano, voice and congas.

Two of her Spanish song arrangements will be performed in December as she sings with a 150-piece orchestra. Temo is also researching ways to present her own concerts using funding or sponsorships.

“I have many creative ideas and look forward to the journey to see how they can come to fruition,” she said.

Photo caption: Marija Temo sings as a guest artist for a flamenco performance in New Mexico last year. Photo submitted.