Guitarist Ottmar Liebert bringing his unique blend of music to Popejoy

Mar. 4—The five-time Grammy Award nominee Ottmar Liebert has been described as a "million-fingered" guitar virtuoso.

But the Santa Fe-based musician acknowledges the possession of just 10 digits as he plays his hybrid Spanish-influenced, original music.

Born and raised in Cologne, Germany, Liebert and his band Luna Negra will perform with the New Mexico Philharmonic at Popejoy Hall on Saturday, March 11.

Liebert received his first classical guitar at age 11. He really wanted an electric.

"There was a show in Germany in the late '60s called 'Beat Club,' " he said. "I must have liked something about the expressiveness of the guitar players. But because we lived in a tiny apartment, I knew that wouldn't fly."

He took his first classical guitar lessons at a local university for $20 a semester. Liebert had intended to stay in Germany and pursue a career as a designer and photographer. But as he traveled extensively through Asia, playing with local musicians, he realized he could not escape a life of music.

After pursuing his dreams of playing rock music in Boston, he settled in Santa Fe after arriving to help out a friend.

"I thought I'd just be there a couple of weeks," he said. "Like so many people who come to Santa Fe, I just got stuck. I loved it. There was something about the mix of cultures that was so appealing."

Today his music knits together flamenco, rumba and tango with a sprinkle of reggae. His sound has been described as "Nouveau Flamenco," a term he questions, although it became an album title.

"I had an album that was finished and I needed to come up with a title," he said. "I saw an article about nouvelle cuisine, so I thought, put a French word in front of anything."

The Grammy Awards have categorized him under a variety of titles, including pop, world music and New Age.

"It's definitely a hybrid music," Liebert said. "I use a flamenco guitar and I use flamenco techniques. To me, all the best things are hybrids."

The Philharmonic audience will "get a heavy dose of flamenco," he added. "We'll also do a reggae tune. It's a mix of things. It's instrumental music; no one is going to be singing."

Ottmar Liebert and Luna Negra with the N.M. Philharmonic

WHEN: 8 p.m. Saturday, March 11

WHERE: Popejoy Hall, University of New Mexico campus

HOW MUCH: $35-$95, plus fees, at popejoypresents.evenue.net, nmphil.org/event, 505-277-4569