Vidal Colmenares

Infobox musical artist
Name = Vidal Colmenares

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Born = birth date and age|1952|2|14
"Caño de Indio", Barinas, Venezuela
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Genre = Joropo, Songs of Arreo, Aguinaldos
Occupation = Singer-songwriter
Years_active = 1977–present
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Vidal Colmenares was born on February 14, 1952 in "Caño de Indio", a neighborhood in Barinas, deep inside the llanos.

When he was 15 years old, started to sing "parrandas llaneras" in his home town. He recorded his first album at age 25, including two "pasajes llaneros": his "Mujer ambiciosa" (Ambitious woman) and "Amor Indolente" (Indolent love), lyrics written by him and music made by Sergio Aranguren, a harpist who accompanied him. He became known thanks to "La voz de Apure", a broadcasting station from San Fernando de Apure, where there was a show sponsored by "Almacenes El Topacio", and conducted by Freddy Ibañez in 1977.

He obtained the second place in the "San Martin Festival" in Colombia, with a new "golpe" (including his lyrics); and was the winner of a local festival in "Papelón", a town in Portuguesa, Venezuela, with other of his compositions, in 1994. He was elected as president of the "Festival Internacional de Música llanera El Silbón" in 1998, and as permanent member of the organizing board of the fundation that manages the festival, has been Director of Culture of the Municipality of "Guanarito", Portuguesa state. He is living Patrimony of "Guanarito" (thanks to a decree from the Municipality), the town where he lives.

He stars as "Florentino" in the play of Venezuelan poet Alberto Arvelo Torrealba: "La Leyenda de Florentino y el Diablo" (The legend of Florentino and the Devil). He has travel around the country, and visited Colombia and Cuba with this play. Colmenares has been in Spain: Seville Expo '92, Tenerife, Madrid, Barcelona and Vigo. He has been in Chicago, Champaign, Illinois, Saint Vincent, Curacao, Aruba, Port of Spain, and French Guyana; in the Cultural Festival of the Unesco in Quito (Ecuador), and Medellín (Colombia).

Discography

*1980: "Acompañando al arpa" (With Pedro Catro. Producer: Rafael Salazar)
*1988: "A Capanaparo" (Producer: José María Marín)
*1990: "La otra música del llano" (With "Los Cabestreros". Producer: CONAC)
*1997: "La Leyenda de Florentino y el Diablo" (With "Los Cabestreros". Producer: Portuguesa State Government)
*2006: "Otro llano" (Producer: Bob Abreu/Cacao Música)

Source

*Information from the album "Otro llano" (2006), by "Vidal Colmenares".

See also

*Venezuela
*Venezuelan music