A seasoned musician, Robert Wetzel is continually being recognized as a mature performing and recording artist by critics and audiences alike:

"...enchanting...instrumental skill...ear-opening...most satisfying..."
Fanfare

"...Quite a few works off the beaten path...captures the full round sound of his Miguel Rodriguez instrument beautifully...appealing..."
American Record Guide

"...enlightening heed...insightfully arranged...fine metrical discipline..."
Fanfare

"...beautifully played...warm balanced sound..."
 Acoustic Guitar Magazine

Robert Wetzel belongs to that small generation of gifted former students of the legendary Romeros family guitar dynasty from the period between 1972-1985 who has succeeded as a professional musician. Devoted to the classical guitar, he has continued with his primary vocation, maintaining a busy schedule of practicing, performing, recording, teaching and arranging music to this day.

He made his formal concert performance debut by sharing the stage with his mentors, the legendary Romeros, as the fourth member of the performing guitar quartet at the August Moon Concerts of the Napa Music Festival in 1977. His status confirmed alongside Celin, Pepe and Angel Romero, he performed the lute and guitar parts of their father, the great Celedonio Romero who was vacationing in Spain that summer. The Napa concert that Robert participated in was a special rare program by the Romeros that featured ensemble performances on lutes, vihuelas and guitars.

On commenting about his early life and ascension up the ladder rungs of early music successes, Robert states:
"A native of the Netherlands with Dutch-Indonesian and Chinese lineage, I immigrated to the United States at age two with my parents, two older brothers and sister, settling in Dallas, Texas. My mother, Leonie, intuitively sensed my inclinations towards artistic sensibilities and encouraged me to draw and later persuaded me to study the piano which I undertook until I was age eleven. It was after my sister brought home a Silvertone acoustic guitar, that I switched my musical allegiance and thus I began my lifelong love affair with the guitar.

I began studying with my first classical guitar teacher, Darryl Ray Saffer, at Southern Methodist University, who introduced me to the Romeros when they visited his house during their U.S. tour in 1971. After intensive study of the classical guitar while still a teenager, I was granted the opportunity to be a performer in the guitar master classes of Pepe Romero, Christopher Parkening, Oscar Ghiglia, and Robert Guthrie which were held in Dallas. The following year I began private studies in Del Mar, California with one of the worlds' greatest guitarists, Angel Romero, who graciously invited me to reside in his residence during my yearly summer studies with him. During this musical apprentice-ship in the old-European style approach of 'I'll show you how to do it, now you try', I developed close friendships with each member of the Romero family who often referred to me as their 'little brother'."

In 1975, another great master guitarist, Pepe Romero, awarded Robert the honor to study on full scholarship for five consecutive years at his then annually conducted master classes in Houston, Texas.

Robert relates another anecdote from this time:
"Pepe also cordially invited me to study privately with him in Del Mar and he showed me the same degree of kindness as Angel had expressed earlier by allowing me to reside in his family's house during those periods of study of the guitar before I moved permanently to California in 1979. This early bohemian lifestyle privilege gave me the priceless opportunity not only to learn how to play the guitar from one of the greatest masters, but also enabled me to witness how great artists live from dawn to dusk. It was very enlightening for me and I was determined to devote my life to music and survive by music."

During this period Robert also participated as a performer in master classes by two Spanish master composers of the 20th century, Joaquin Rodrigo and Federico Moreno-Torroba. The master classes were organized by Pepe Romero and were held in Houston and Dallas, respectively.

Private guitar studies in Del Mar coincided with Pepe Romero and later with the gran maestro and patriarch of the Romero family, Celedonio Romero, whom Robert cites as his greatest influence:
"I had studied diligently with his sons and had learned much and drew great inspiration from them, but it wasn't until I had the great fortune to sit next to Celedonio Romero and have him show me personally how fantastic guitar playing with profound musicality was done that I realized where all of his son's greatness had stemmed from. It was from him! That time was the golden period of my artistic development and some of my fondest memories are from those times spent with Celedonio at his home in Del Mar, sometimes enacting the respectful student to maestro relationship and at other times just being totally down to earth and assuming the roles of two sincere good old friends. He showed me immense kindness and I really miss him. I am still in touch with his sons Celin, Pepe and Angel and see them from time to time and our relationships too are very special."

Undergraduate studies with Robert Guthrie at Southern Methodist University earned Robert a BA degree in musical performance and he was the first guitarist to earn a Master of Music degree from San Diego State University under the guidance of Celin Romero.

A founding member of the award-winning Odeum Guitar Duo with guitarist, composer, and colleague, Fred Benedetti, Robert is a frequent performer in solo, chamber music and orchestral concerts and currently he resides in San Diego, California where he is on the music faculties of the University of California, San Diego; San Diego State University, University of San Diego and Grossmont College.

As a recording artist, he has recorded his arrangements for two guitars on two CDs by the Odeum Guitar Duo on SBE Records, one of which, entitled "Concert Hall Classics", was awarded and honored as being one of the top ten best independently produced guitar CDs of 2000 by Acoustic Guitar magazine. The CDs by the Odeum Guitar Duo, which are still available, contain guitar duo arrangements done by Robert from the works by the composers Mozart, Beethoven, Schubert, Liszt, Chopin, Schumann, Mendelssohn, Vivaldi/J. S. Bach, Torelli/J. S. Bach, Boccherini, Rimsky-Korsakov, Scriabin, and Albeniz as well as original works for two guitars by J. K. Mertz.

Robert has recorded two solo albums for SBE Records which were released simultaneously in October, 2004. They are entitled "Guitar Fantasy in Spain and Italy" and "Guitar Fantasy in Spain and Italy Vol. 2". They contain original works for solo guitar by Fernando Sor, Francesco Molino, Niccolo Paganini, Francisco Guerau, Gaspar Sanz, Jose Broca, Jose Ferrer, Angel Barrios and a guitar arrangement by Robert Wetzel of a work originally composed for lute by Francisco da Milano.

He performs on guitars that were constructed for him by Miguel Rodriguez of Cordoba, Spain (1976, cedar top, palosanto back and sides) and Simon Marty of Sydney, Australia (1999, spruce top, rosewood back and sides). Robert uses Augustine 'Blue' extra hard tension for bass strings and Savarez 'yellow' non-clear extra hard tension for treble strings.

His favorite guitar of choice is the 1976 cedar top Rodriguez, of which Robert relates about with facts on how he obtained the magnificent instrument:
"My parents were vacationing in Spain in 1975 and upon checking into their hotel room, they surprisingly met Pepe Romero and his parents, Celedonio and Angelita, in the lobby of the very same hotel. You've heard the saying, 'it's a small world'. My father told me upon his return to the States how he could hear Celedonio practicing through the hotel room walls since they were given adjoining rooms on the same floor!

Anyway, my father got together with Pepe and told him that he wanted to get me the best guitar possible, so Pepe phoned the Rodriguez shop in Cordoba to order me a guitar. A few months later the guitar arrived with two other Rodriguez instruments in Houston, Texas at the Guitar Gallery of Houston which at that time was owned by some friends of ours, and I picked my guitar out of the three. I'll never forget the acts of my father and Pepe to get my favorite instrument which I use exclusively for my recordings and some concerts. I used it on all of the tracks for the Odeum Guitar Duo recordings and for the two solo debut CDs originally released on SBE Records in 2004 and then later issued again with permission in 2005 on my own independent record label, Concert Hall Records."