MY True Story By Danieldedosd2

Rehearsal with the Rainbow Coral Children of Cumaná

I was born in Caracas on 11/03/1971, my parents and my two brothers lived in the house of my grandparents' family on the part of my father, who studied at that time for a law degree at the Central University of Venezuela. I want to highlight the fact that Edmundo Centeno, my father, spent several years singing as a tenor at the UCV, while studying his career, and this was mentioned in a way to look at the history of the family where the taste for classical music comes from and the desire to learn to play instruments. And to be able to decipher that it took us to three of the five brothers, included by this profession and to take it forever as a profession.

An anecdote that Dad always told us, with one of his experiences with the University choir, was an event of the year 1976, something that marked his life, since almost all his companions died with the crash of the Hercules C-130 plane from the Venezuelan Air Force, all except several members who had traveled 2 days before to prepare the presentations, perished, including its then director, Vinicio Adames. The UCV alleged that it could not cover the travel expenses, so FAV had been presented as an option. My father, thank God, did not attend for work reasons because they denied him permission.

A few years later when I was approximately 8 years old in 1979 my parents decided to move to the Sucre State specifically to the city of Cumaná where he got a job as a teacher at the Universidad de Oriente. There we settled to live in the land of grace also known as the marshal and sailor in honor of the marshal of Ayacucho. The change for us was not very easy, leaving friends, school and the rest of the family 7 hours away by bus we will always remember.div>

In the new house and adapting to the new school and with an exquisite musical taste from our parents we were learning to listen to classical music and especially a lot of choral music, from the Contrapunto Quintet to the passions of Johan Sebastian Bach, my father was a faithful listener de Bach, Bethooven, Vivaldi among others, all those things were directing us towards an uncertain musical future. By then in my head and that of my brothers. Our father working at UDO already participated as a tenor in the choir of the highest house, that is how our university in the East is known, and my mother who had not tested her musical ear, enters as a alto and shows great qualities for singing . That fact already allowed us to be in the eye of the hurricane and since they both sang at the same time they had to take us to rehearsals and there we discovered vocal harmony from a very young age.div>

My older brother at that time was enrolled to learn piano, since the director of the choir at the University was a Neapolitan land immigrant teacher named Pino Iorio, and from the age of 6 Edmundo Jr. saw classes at an unimaginable level for a child in a town like Cumaná. There begins a time of frustrations for me in this wonderful world of eighth notes, sixteenth notes, black and white for me, and I will tell you about that..

One rainy morning I remember my dear father holding hands and preparing to start piano lessons, well, between fright and anxiety, I met my brother's teacher, who had taught him so much, since Edmundo Centeno junior at 8 years old was pianist and gave concerts from a very young age. I tell them that it did not go well for me because (and I remember it exactly like this), my musical memory was very good and I did not really study the language of music when they indicated it to me as a task, because when I saw they gave practical examples, I memorized everything and so he repeated the classes like a parrot. One day as it had to be, my teacher told my father that I had a very good son and another not so much and they stopped taking me to classes.

. Several years passed and at the age of 13 as if by magic, a cousin very close to the family appears with a guitar of Spanish TATAY brand, of regular quality, I say that now because at that time it was the best guitar in the world . There, having it in my hands, I met my first true love, I ran like a man hugging her and went to enroll in the José María Gómez Cardiel State School of Music, there I met my teacher Manuel Sánchez, whom I thank for having taken the first steps on classical guitar, with him I discovered that this instrument was not only for serenades and partying on weekends with friends, he literally introduced me to Antonio Lauro, Francísco Tárrega, Fernánd Sor, Mateo carcassi and all the teachers who are gathered in the most important libraries of music conservatories in the guitar world

I have an anecdote that I will not forget for that year 1989 a very special guest visited our city and they needed to make him a reception with a classical guitarist, since the honoree had paid for his studies of kinetic art in France giving serenades and concerts with another Venezuelan guitarist called Rodrígo Riera, so my first concert was for the maestro Jesús Soto, for me it was one of the best experiences of my whole life

A few years later, three of the best guitarists of the Venezuelan youth came through university culture, Luís Zea, Luís Quintero and José Luís Presa, known for that guitar workshop, like the three Luis, who forever marked my guitar life, At that moment I decided that I would dedicate myself to the guitar. There, through various initiatives of the Typical Orchestra where I participated as a facilitator for the young guitar students, I had the opportunity to take several students to that workshop and they did very well. The oldest of them with the last name Presa invited me to study at the José Ángel Lamas Superior School of Music in Caracas and there begins another story that continues below

Teaching classes to students of the Simón Bolívar Program.

I did not expect something like this but I already had experience teaching and it was really good to teach, I had a very good reception with the students in that place, the chair was 15 students and the enrollment increased significantly. In two months I already had more than fifty students. A year later I had the opportunity to invite a guitar workshop for the students of the academy, the teacher Alírio Díaz, our best exponent, world reference in the instrument, and there I was able to take my students from Cumaná and 13 young people managed to obtain a certificate of a workshop with the great teacher. Closing the cycle of guitar studies in Caracas, I began with a project in my beautiful Cumaná with the creation of the Chair of Classical Guitar Benigno Marcano Centeno in honor of a great musician from the Sucre State.

I have always believed in social work and opened a school for underprivileged children and there I received the most beautiful children I have ever met, classes were taught for singing, four, guitar, piano accompaniment and musical language. It is one of the experiences that I would like to repeat whenever the resources can be obtained to be able to handle such responsibility

Presentación de la coral Infantil Arcoiris

Rainbow Coral. In the photo @mariajruizb and @ danieldedosd2

In all the things that I have achieved in my life I could remember when I started on the guitar with my students from Cumaná, we invented a group that had the name of "Rondalla Romance" we were 12 students and 2 teachers and that sounded incredible to say that we rode almost the entire repertoire of Los Panchos and other famous trios. Then when that job fell, my brother and I created the "Dúo D2" with him, we toured many places and participated in three encounters of the Social Song and trova internationally, meeting many people during that period.

@davidcentenor and @ danieldedosd2 members of the D2 duo.

I am approaching a stage that brings me to know my vocal instrument and its great capacity, and that is when the Lyric chair of opera at the Orient Opera opens and I am struck by the volume achieved by the singers of this difficult career. . Germán Segúra, a baritone graduated from the Santa Cecilia School in Milan Italy with twelve years of studies and had just received a degree with honors. There we started my two brothers, my wife and several guitar students with singing studies as members of the choir and this was not going to stay here, but years later twelve of the members of that choir were accepted into the Simón Bolívar Conservatory to do degree. To travel every Thursday again but now with an abysmal difference my four-year-old daughter had to accompany us and José Daniel for a year in our arms because we had no one to leave them with, my wife and I in a bus every Thursday night with the children to Take turns on Friday mornings while she was going to class and I was babysitting and vice versa. You know her she is @mariajruizb.

Lyrical Choir in a rehearsal

My wife, my two children and the son of Master Sara Catarine.

With my son at the Conservatory

Companions of Cumaná at the Simón Bolívar Conservatory

Both of us currently work together as music teachers in the Simón Bolívar Program with children from primary school, this project aims to teach all children in schools in the country, they have already donated 25 four in each school for the teaching of This instrument is part of those little things that all human beings must do to thank God for everything he gives us.

Christmas Concert of the Simón Bolívar Program

Preschool of the Simón Bolívar program

In 2015 we had created the "Art and Opera Foundation", an initiative that we had at that time, two colleagues from the Conservatory, my wife and I but we had not consecrated it until last year when we decided to start it with students from the neighborhoods for singing and guitar teaching. We currently have more than 150 students and at least two were enrolled every day until the quarantine began.

Founders of the Art and Opera Foundation

Art and Opera Presentation

I say goodbye for now by announcing that I have a teaching project that I want to project at HIVE and I will announce it in approximately two weeks, I know that those in charge of supporting creative projects will like it and will be willing to help grow ideas like the ones I have at mind. I will not give you the scoop so that they do not go ahead with something like that but I know they will like it .

Art and Opera Presentation