Victor Kolstee, acclaimed flamenco guitarist and performer, co-founded Flamenco Rosario, Centro Flamenco and the annual Vancouver Flamenco Festival in 1989. Since then, he has been instrumental in developing a flamenco following in Vancouver.

“My role as a guitarist is to follow the dancer’s footwork and its compás, and to follow the tonal variations of the singer at the same time. I support the singer and we are both there to provide a foundation for the dancer. Even though this might sound very confining, it isn’t. I can improvise, play my own variations, play other guitarists’ falsettas (melodic variations on the compás), or do whatever I like as long as what I do is in compás, since that is what gives the piece its structure and enables all the elements of flamenco to come together,” says Kolstee.

Music director for Centro Flamenco and Flamenco Rosario, Kolstee has performed in numerous community, cultural and professional artistic and commercial events, as well as music and arts festivals throughout Vancouver, the Lower Mainland and the surrounding region. Kolstee began flamenco guitar studies in Seattle and Vancouver in 1965, and in Spain he studied with Diego del Gastor, Victor Monje “Serranito”, Justo de Badajoz, Paco del Gastor, Jose Cobos, Benjamin Habichuela and David Serva, to name a few. He performed regularly and honed his skills in the Café de Silverio in Madrid, Penas Flamencas, private fiestas, and on Spanish radio and television.

Kolstee and his music have been featured in several television specials (including Men of Music, CTV, 2004 and Mi Pasìon, CBC, 1995) and he has toured with Teo & Isabel Morca, performed with the Vancouver Symphony, and participated in such events as the Vancouver Folk Music Festival, Chutzpah! and the Vancouver International Dance Festival.

In 1999, Kolstee recorded his debut CD, Tocaor. “Kolstee’s improvised accompaniment evokes the raw essence of flamenco - the creative tension between sophistication and savagery, control and abandon, that’s embedded in the traditional culture of Andalucia’s Roma,” wrote Tony Montague of The Georgia Straight.

In 2008, a selection of Kolstee’s recordings with flamenco singer José Lara was independently released. He teaches guitar lessons at Centro Flamenco and performs regularly with Flamenco Rosario and at several locations in the Lower Mainland.