Celt Iberia
7016 Culmore Dr
Houston, TX 77087
832.721.0357
www.flamencoinc.org/celtiberia
Biography
Celt Iberia takes its name from the pre-Roman people who inhabited the northwestern regions of Spain, Galicia and Asturias, the Iberian Celts. The group performs the traditional musical forms, including the lively muneira (jig), the soulful alalá, the pandeirada (tambourine songs), xotas, and fandangos galegos. Lucia sings the songs in not only in Spanish, but also in the native dialect of Galego. She also provides exciting rhythmic accompaniment with tambourines and castanets. Valdemar's guitar provides the lead melody and rhythmic accompaniment, and his zanfona (hurdy gurdy) adds a truly medieval flavor to the mix. Maria Dolores rips up the forms on the violin and provides harmony to Lucia's vocals. The sound is at once traditional and contemporary.
Spain's Celtic Background: Galicia and Asturias
Celt Iberia has evolved from Spain's Celtic past. The provinces of Galicia and Asturias, in particular, have their own music and dance forms, and regional dialects of Spanish: Galego and Asturianu. The traditional music includes bagpipes, the zanfona (hurdy gurdy), flutes, voice, violin, percussion, and other instruments, whose histories go back further than the Middle Ages. Indeed, the Galician, Asturian and other Northern Spain landscapes are dotted with pre-Roman archaeological Celtic settlements, and this region of Europe was once populated by a people who spoke a Celtic tongue. These people were called the Iberian Celts. This is the origin of our musical group's name, Celt Iberia.
You can hear our CD Celtic Connection on our Audio CD page here.