Manuel Romero Villasanti

Paraguayan guitarist, singer, composer and arranger, born in Coronel Oviedo on January 11, 1926. As a child, he began learning the guitar and singing, which he studied with Manuel Giménez. In Buenos Aires, Argentina, he studied music theory and reading-writing at the Escuela San Martín from Florencio Varela, and vocalization at the Conservatorio Paraná in Buenos Aires. In 1954 he was part of the ensemble «Los Magos de las Canciones» with which he performed in his hometown, Villarrica and the capital. He began composing in 1952 with “Mi oración para ti”. Around the '60s, he was very successful with his folk music group «Los de la Selva», thanks to which his compositions such as “Reinita mía”, “Madre idolatrada”, “Para ti, hermosa Tomy” or “White Nadir” became known. He is the author of about 150 compositions, between polkas and guaranias, such as: “Evocando tu recuerdo”, “Reinita mía”, “Adiós, mi flor lozana”, “Iporãmante, kamba”, “Mi lirio blanco”, “Madre idolatrada”, “Mi princesita”, “Teresita mía”, “Para ti, hermosa Tomy”, “Ne Ñaña Pykasu”, “Mi gran profesor”, “Paraguay, jardín de amor”, “Implorando tu querer”, “Clan Orrego” and others. His symphonic piece “Concierto en un Riacho” was premiered by the Orquesta Sinfónica de la Ciudad de Asunción (OSCA) in 1996. He passed away on December 10, 2006 in Coronel Oviedo