Studio K Flamenco

Marija Temo

Marija Temo is a widely recognized classical and flamenco guitarist, flamenco vocalist, conductor, and composer. She performs as a soloist with symphony orchestras, in guitar concert series and festivals, and as a flamenco singer/guitar accompanist for dance.

Marija has performed extensively with highly acclaimed artists, and has received several awards. In addition to her versatile performance career, she is known for her teaching methods, educational programs, and workshops. Marija plays a “Marija Temo” Model flamenco/classical hybrid TM, which she designed with luthier Tom Rodriguez. She has also received the endorsement of D’Addario Strings.

In recent years, Marija Temo was a vocal competitor on La Voz US (the Spanish language version of the Voice) on NBC Telemundo and had a successful four chair turn for the first round of the competition. She was also a judge for The Guitar Foundation of America’s International Guitar Festival and Competition. Temo was a selected artist for both the NY Guitar Festival “Tribute to Julian Bream” and the Radford University International Guitar Festival. She was also the musical director, composer, and arranger for “The Flamenco Nutcracker” directed by Kerensa DeMars.

Currently, Temo is Guitar Chair at the Wisconsin Conservatory of Music in Milwaukee. She is a former faculty member of the Preparatory of the Peabody Institute, Johns Hopkins University. She received her Masters degree from the Peabody Conservatory of Music, studying under Manuel Barrueco, and her Bachelors degree from the Baldwin-Wallace College Conservatory of Music.

Temo, described as “one of the most powerful flamenco artists in North America’ by the Calgary Sun is an outstanding performer and composer. “Her intelligence, natural intuitive ability combined with a passion and love of music places her among those exceptional interpreters of our time.” -Soundboard, National Guitar Magazine, Guitar Foundation of America.

Kerensa DeMars

Kerensa DeMars is a choreographer, performer and educator working primarily in Flamenco. Her work explores the evolution of the ‘Flamenca’ archetype, the diverse roots of Flamenco and the poetry at the heart of the form. The founding director of the San Francisco Flamenco Dance Company, Kerensa lived and worked in Spain for over a decade. She has performed internationally at venues including London's Royal Festival Hall, the Teatro Calderón of Madrid, the Tivoli Theater in Barcelona and San Francisco's Yerba Buena Center for the Arts.

Kerensa has received major choreography commissions from the San Francisco Arts Commission, the Azahar Dance Foundation, the Teatro Pradillo and Theatre Bay Area for her work. In 2019 she was commissioned to create Volver. This full length production paired traditional Flamenco with interpretations by Palestinian musicians and the poetry of Cecilia Woloch, Federico Garcia Lorca and Leonard Cohen.

Kerensa has worked extensively throughout her career with musicians from diverse backgrounds including Moroccan Gnawa, Palestinian, Turkish Romani, Latin Jazz and traditional Flamenco. She has directed ten full length Flamenco programs (including three works for youth) and presented her work in Madrid, San Francisco, Chicago, Barcelona, Los Angeles and Paris. Kerensa also served as the Artistic Director of the Flamenco Room, San Francisco’s longest running weekly Flamenco series, for fifteen years.

Kerensa relocated to Milwaukee in 2019 and formed Studio K Flamenco, Milwaukee’s home for the Flamenco arts. With programs like the annual Flamenco Nutcracker, the Compás Youth Project and the performance series FlamencoMKE, Studio K is committed to furthering the art of Flamenco in Milwaukee and beyond.