Maria Zemantauski is one of the world's few heralded female flamenco guitarists, and one of even fewer female flamenco composers. She has performed in Spain and across the continental United States to great acclaim. Her albums, 'Mrs. Laughinghouse' (1997), 'Seeing Red' (2000) and "Under the Lemon Tree" (2005), have received stellar reviews from 'Flamenco Connection', 'Dirty Linen' and music critics around the world. In May, 2004, Maria marked her premier performance in Sarzana, Italy, where she was invited to represent the United States at the 7th International Acoustic Guitar Summit.
Maria's programs are a dynamic blend of artistic freedom, innovation and tradition. While she believes that the expressive possibilities of the guitar are limitless, she feels that the indigenous voice of her instrument is found within the flamenco art form. She has claimed this genre of music as her own with passion, confidence and grace.
With a masters degree in cultural anthropology, Maria has focused much of her research on images of diversity and gender ideology within the performing arts. Often combining both performance and sociocultural analysis, she is a frequent guest lecturer at colleges and universities; among those are the University of San Francisco, University of California at Santa Cruz, the Eastman School of Music, Ithaca College School of Music, St. Lawrence University, California State University at San Marcos and The University of Kentucky at Lexington. Maria is also one of the featured performers in the award-winning documentary, ?Radical Harmonies,? a historical perspective of Women's Music Festivals.
She is strongly committed to promoting the arts as a vital educational component and an integral part of society.
www.mariazemantauski.com