  paco peÃ±a (born 1 june 1942) is a spanish flamenco composer and guitarist. he is regarded as one of the world's foremost traditional flamenco players.http://www.pacopena.com/newsreviewssolo.html born in cÃ³rdoba, spain as francisco peÃ±a pÃ©rez, paco peÃ±a began learning to play the guitar from his brother at age 6 and made his first professional appearance at 12. encouraged by his family, he left home and began performing throughout spain as part of a government-sponsored folk music and dance program. this led to calls from professional flamenco companies in madrid and the costa brava, where peÃ±a established himself as a highly regarded accompanist to flamenco dance and singing. however, dissatisfied with life on the coast and seeking a new challenge,classical guitar magazine, june 2004 he moved to london in the late 1960s to become a soloist. initially the star attraction in the restaurante antonio in covent garden, peÃ±a generated so much interest among a british public previously uninitiated in flamenco that he soon found himself sharing concerts with artists such as jimi hendrix, and made his solo debut at wigmore hall in 1967. it was not long before peÃ±a was touring the world, both as a soloist and an accompanist with performances at carnegie hall in new york city, the royal albert hall in london and the concertgebouw in amsterdam. he later founded the world's first university course on flamenco guitar, at the rotterdam conservatory of music. in 1984 peÃ±a was interviewed by julian bream for the channel 4 television series guitarra! which traces the development of the guitar in spain. peÃ±a also created the centro flamenco paco peÃ±a in cÃ³rdoba, and was responsible for the founding of the now-celebrated annual cÃ³rdoba guitar festival, which has seen appearances by other flamenco greats such as manolo sanlÃºcar and paco de lucÃ­a. in 1997 peÃ±a was named oficial de la cruz de la orden del mÃ©rito civil by king juan carlos of spain. his most famous compositions include his misa
1942_births Living_people Spanish_flamenco_guitarists