Musical style one in a million

His right hand feathers over the six guitar strings, the left hand dancing up the frets. Out of the sonorous instrument comes the flamenco flourishes of "Caruso" and "Malagueña," the wistfulness of "Mona Lisa," the commanding "Bésame Mucho" and classical, Spanish-flavored original tunes.

In Colombia, Enrique Henao's father, his first teacher, told him that his right hand should be like a butterfly, gracious in movement. After 44 years of performing, he remembers that, as well as the words of his grandfather.

"When I left the country, I was scared to death, so I went to Grandpa and said, 'Grandpa, this is serious. Do you have any advice for me?'

"He said, 'The moment you learn how to be one within a million, and a million within one, you have not only the performer but you have your own audience.'

"If I'm performing in a restaurant and there is only three people, to me, those three people are a million. And I give them exactly the same that I will do in a concert."

Henao will present a free benefit concert for Olympic Ballet Theatre at 7 p.m. Sunday at the Edmonds Center for the Arts. Any donations will go toward a renovated stage to be named the John Wilkins Memorial Stage, after the Edmonds dance company's co-founder, John Wilkins, who died in 2003.

Henao has performed with Laurindo Almeida, Charlie Parker, Sammy Davis Jr., Julio Iglesias and many other music legends. He has performed pops, classical, flamenco, jazz and hybrids such as jazz-flamenco at cafes and on concert stages in more than 80 countries.

But the Edmonds guitarist eventually realized he wanted his talent to serve the children of the world. The father of four has seen the heartache of children struggling in his homeland.

"Everything that I'm doing, somehow, some way, has to do with helping children," Henao said.

"Traveling throughout the world, I have seen so much poverty in children, even here. The thing that bothered me the most was having concerts that not all people could come to because of the pay situation, which makes this concert so beautiful, that everybody can come to. Anywhere I go to do concerts, I offer a concert for children that is free."

Colombia has been beset with drug cartels, kidnappings, bombings and human-rights violations, especially against the campesinos, the region's rural population. Henao had heard and seen the youngest victims of the violence — the children. The situation has improved in recent years, however, and Henao helps support a children's hospital in Manizales.

Though Henao's father, Bonifacio, was a coffee grower, he was also an exacting musician who taught his son guitar.

"He had his own form of music that was between Italian, Portuguese, Spanish and Andean music," Henao said. "I put many, many hours with him, working on the guitar."

By 1967, Henao was in the United States and performing professionally. His scrapbook tells the story: contracts for performances on "The Mike Douglas Show" and "The Tonight Show"; theater photos with Andres Segovia; pictures of marquees with Johnny and June Carter Cash, Julio Iglesias and others.

Henao has performed for heads of state and keeps thank-you notes from the first President Bush and the Vatican. He has been a visiting artist with the Washington Commission for the Humanities. Locally, Henao has given benefit concerts for the TeenHope homeless shelter and Clothes for Kids.

He and his wife, Diane Wagner de Henao, an engineering coordinator for KING-TV, live in Edmonds with their children.

For years, he performed weekly at Cafe de Paris in Edmonds and now performs at three other area restaurants.

At Sunday's concert, in addition to a set by Henao, Olympic Ballet will present modern-dance works featuring husband and wife Daniel and Danielle Wilkins, a salsa piece presented by Philip Laue and Christine Schwartz, and a dance and guitar piece featuring Henao and Daniel Wilkins' sister, Julia Wilkins of Spectrum Dance Theater.

It was a longtime dream of John Wilkins to see the Edmonds Center for the Arts renovated. In 1982, he took a nearly derelict college auditorium and rehabilitated it for "The Nutcracker," presenting more than 20 years of dance performances there.

Of John Wilkins, Henao said: "Any person who dedicates himself to children the way he did, he's part of my inspiration of giving to children. He was one of the inspirations when I came to Edmonds, seeing him doing that. And the connection between dancing and music, it's all the same — spirit and expression."

Helen Wilkins, Olympic Ballet's artistic director and the widow of John Wilkins, said of Henao: "He takes you on a journey. And it is about that genuine and passionate connection to the music."

Diane Wright: 425-745-7815 or dwright@seattletimes.com