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Duane Corn
 Duane’s
interest in flamenco was conceived during a trip to Paracho, Mexico
in 1997. The highlight of this adventure was a visit to Benito Huipe’s
guitar shop and the purchase of the only flamenco guitar in his
inventory. The following year he attended a flamenco guitar workshop
and met fellow participant Robert Elliott. The two kept in sparse
contact via email over the next two years. More on that in the next
paragraph.
A classical guitarist by training, Duane gleaned
what he could from various instructional material and recordings.
As fate would have it, a career move for his ballet-dancer wife
brought him from Indiana to Lexington, KY. Of course he immediately
called Robert Elliott and convinced him to impart some of his knowledge
of flamenco. During the lessons, the two became friends and the
flamenco bug was rampant in the Corn household. At one point Bob
said, “You know, if you really want to learn flamenco should
play with other people.” To make a long story short, Duane
joined Bob and Jaleos Flamencos where he met Stuart Waldner. Unbeknownst
to the trio of musicians, the nucleus of Alma Gitana was formed.
The rest is recent history!
Duane holds a Bachelor of Music and Bachelor
of Music Education degrees from the University of Evansville in
Indiana where he studied with Renato Butturi. Additionally, he received
a Master of Music degree in Classical Guitar from the University
of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music as a student of Clare
Callahan. He has studied flamenco guitar with Robert Elliott, Arturo
Martinez of New York City and Manuel “El Carbonero” Lozano
of Jerez de la Frontera, Spain.
In addition to Alma Gitana, Duane has performed
in the United States and Mexico as a classical guitarist soloist,
with the Lexington Guitar Trio, and with the Holland & Corn
duo.
Bob Elliott
 Originally
from Western Kentucky, Robert Elliott began playing guitar at age
17. Early on, Elliott focused mostly on folk and rock styles. While
in college in the late 1970’s, he studied briefly with well-known
master guitarist Jerry Belsak and began studying fingerstyle techniques.
Elliott entered medical school in 1981 and eventually completed
a residency in psychiatry in 1989. At that point he began to focus
on the study of flamenco guitar. By August 1996, Elliott began studying
under world-renowned flamenco guitarist Rene Heredia. Mr. Heredia
studied under the legendary flamenco master Sabicas and was one
of the lead guitarists for flamenco dance greats such as Carmen
Amaya and Jose Greco.
In December 1997, Elliott joined the Ballet Español
of Louisville. Founded in 1987, the Ballet Español featured
flamenco dance performances in the region and two festivals a year
in Louisville. During his work with the Ballet Español, Elliott
studied under nationally known flamenco guitarists Arturo Martinez
and Greg Wolf. Elliott performed with the Ballet Español
on Kentucky Educational Television’s “In Performance at
the Governor’s Mansion” in May 1999.
Since 1995, Elliott has given numerous solo guitar
concerts and several guest appearances on television and radio.
He gave a solo performance at Brescia University in Owensboro in
May 1999. In October 1999, he had the privilege to accompany Argentinean
flamenco singer Pepita Ortega in several concerts in Lexington.
Elliott appears playing flamenco guitar in the award-winning documentary
“Beyond the Border” by Ari Palos and Eren McGinnis, which
premiered at the Kentucky Theatre in September 2001. Elliott organized
Lexington’s first Flamenco Festival in 2003 featuring live
performances and workshops by Arturo Martinez and dancer Peter Suarez.
Elliott was joined by percussionist Stuart Waldner
at Lexington’s Mayfest in 1999 for the first of many performances
together. Later in 1999, Elliott and Waldner were joined by flamenco
singer/dancer Andrea Osio and flamenco dancer Chandra Nair to form
Jaleos Flamencos. Guitarist Duane Corn joined Jaleos Flamencos in
July 2001 for his first performance with the group at The Governor’s
School for the Performing Arts at Transylvania University. In addition
to his work with Jaleos Flamencos, Elliott currently performs with
flamenco fusion group Alma Gitana.
Chris Bincang
Chris plays bass for Alma Gitana.
He’s a native Lexingtonian who has freelanced
as a guitarist and bassist in Lexington and Nashville since 1993.
He studied classical guitar at Vanderbilt University, and obtained
a Bachelor of Music in 1997. After moving back to Lexington in 1997,
he played bass in the late local reggae group, the Rioters. Shortly
after, he studied flamenco guitar in Granada, Spain for one month.
After returning home, he met Duane Corn and classical guitar maestro
Michael Fogler and formed the award-winning classical guitar ensemble,
the Lexington Guitar Trio. Finally he joined Stuart, Bob, and Duane
in 2003 to create Alma Gitana. He took a brief hiatus from the group
in 2007 to finish medical school, and then he rejoined the group
in Fall of 2009.
In addition to playing guitar and bass, Chris
plays the mandolin, banjo, Filipino bandurria, laúd, guitarrón,
ukulele, violin, viola, cello, upright acoustic bass, banjo, and
accordion.
Chris plays a Godin five string fretless bass
guitar and an Ergo five string electric upright bass through a Gallien-Krueger
MicroBass150S amplifier.
George Wakim
 George
Wakim is originally from Mieh Ou Mieh in southern Lebanon. He is
an avid fan of arabic music, in which he is an entirely self-taught
(left-handed) performer on the violin (that he built from scratch
under JB Miller of Lexington, KY), oud, tabla, and voice. In 1984,
George came to the University of Kentucky for his engineering degrees
during which period he was involved in playing for some events in
the area. George entertained with the help of Firas Madbak on the
tabla at Aladdin’s Restaurant in Lexington, KY, with Husam
Al Aydi at Babylon Restaurant and some festivals in Louisville,
KY, and with the help of Emad Abu Hayyah on tabla at Andy’s
Mediterranean Grille in Cincinnati, OH. He opened a show for Jean
Ritchie (KY Mountain Singer Icon) at the Kentucky Folk-life Festival
in Frankfort, KY; opened the first Berry Hill Mansion Music Series
show in Frankfort, KY; played in the “Secret Commonwealth”
shows of Danny Dutton of Somerset, KY; in a concert by “Baladna”
on the KET Mixed Media Show in October of 2004; and just opened
for Simon Shaheen with Qantara at the Bomhard Theatre for the Fifth
Third Bank World Rhythms music series in Louisville, KY . Currently,
George entertains private parties including a regular show at Cafe
Classico in Louisville, KY. He also teaches oud.
Stuart Waldner
 Stuart
received a bachelor’s degree in music performance with an emphasis
in percussion from the University of Kentucky. World music and hand
percussion captivated Stuart from an early age and his musical pursuits
have been that of a musical gypsy, studying and performing the music
of a wide variety of cultures from West Africa’s Mali and Senegal
to traditional Irish and Scottish. His many musical experiences
included studying West African music with master drummer and author,
Yaya Diallo, The Healing Drum; and performing at Pittsburgh’s
Three Rivers Arts Festival with world-renowned ethnomusicologist
John Chernoff, author of African Rhythm, African Sensibilities.
Between his global travels, Stuart has performed
in several all-original bands based in Lexington, Ky., most recently
as drummer in Michelangelo’s Soup, with singer/song writer
and flamenco dancer, Peter Suarez. In 2000, Stuart performed with
singer/songwriter, Beau Haddock (founder of the Little River Band),
at the Master Musician’s Festival in Somerset, Kentucky.
Beginning in the Spring of 1999, Stuart began
performing in local restaurants, cafes and festivals with flamenco
guitarist, Bob Elliott. The duo later expanded to add dancers and
had the honor of performing several times with visiting flamenca,
Pepita Ortega, from Argentina. Stuart began studying Spanish and
in 2000 he and Bob co-founded Jaleos Flamencos. That Spring, another
talented guitarist, Duane Corn, joined the group. Jaleos Flamencos
performed bimonthly in a local tablao, Red Seville, from the Fall
of 2001 through 2003, at festivals in Louisville and Cincinnati,
as well as, two feature performances at the Kentucky Governor’s
School for the Arts. During this time, Stuart had the privilege
of studying with NYC flamenco guitarist, Arturo Martinez, and performed
with him, along with Jaleos Flamencos, at several performances in
conjunction with the first Lexington Flamenco Festival in 2003.
In November of 2003 he formed Alma Gitana with his compadres, Bob
and Duane.
Alma Gitana has been delighting audiences with
their musical performances, including regular appearances at a local
restaurant, Natasha’s Cafe. Alma Gitana has also performed
twice (2004 and 2005) at Cincinnati’s Cinco de Mayo festival,
Cincy-Cinco. As lead singer and principle percussionist with Alma
Gitana, Stuart has devoted much energy on and off the stage to Alma
Gitana’s success and development.
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