Emilio Garcia

Education

MM - SUNY Fredonia

BM - SUNY Fredonia

Classical guitarist Emilio Garcia has appeared in concert as a soloist and chamber musician. His performances have garnered awards such as 1st Prize in the 2022 Rising Talents of the Americas international Music Competition, 2nd place at the 2017 Onondaga Community College Performance Competition, the Louis A. Armstrong Jazz Award, and various other scholarships for excellence in performance and musicianship.

In addition to his solo and chamber music performances Mr. Garcia was a member of the 2020 Inaugural Virtual Guitar Orchestra whose purpose was to raise money for Doctors without Borders during the COVID19 Pandemic. The VGO premiered a new commissioned work for guitar ensemble entitled “Kaliedokithara” by esteemed guitarist/composer Sergio Assad. Mr. Garcia was also a member of one of the SUNY Fredonia flagship touring ensembles, The Fredonia Guitar Quartet. Recently, Mr. Garcia has formed a flute and guitar ensemble “Les Deux Amis” with American flutist Kaitlin Hershey. The duo placed 2nd in the Best Bartok performance Category of the International Great Composers Competition in March 2022. Mr. Garcia has performed in masterclasses with renowned artists such as Grisha Goryachev, Andrea Gonzáles Caballero, Mak Grgić, Berta Rojas, Adam Cicchilitti, Christopher Ladd, Adam Levin, Victor Main and the world famous guitarist/composer Leo Brouwer.

Mr. Garcia holds an Associate in Arts and Science Degree in Music from Onondaga Community College where he was instructed by renowned classical guitarist Kenneth Meyer. He also holds a Bachelor of Music Degree and Master of Music Degree in Performance from the State University of New York at Fredonia under the instruction of guitarists Evan Drummond, James Piorkowski, and Thomas Viloteau. Mr. Garcia is a current doctoral candidate at The Hartt School under the instruction of acclaimed guitarist and teacher Christopher Ladd.

Teaching Philosophy:

Guitar has been one of the most popular instruments in mainstream media and music for the last 50 years. Despite this popularity, Guitar is not an instrument widely taught in primary or even secondary schools causing most young guitarists to end up self-taught and having little to no formal training. I was self-taught at first, and I know firsthand the problems that often arise from lack of experienced instruction. My primary goal as a Guitar teacher is to give students the tools to be a successful, functioning, musically literate guitarist in today’s musical climate no matter their genre of interest.

My goal starts with building student’s posture, technique, and reading skills to act as a strong foundation off which to base further study and advanced techniques. My second goal is for Students to learn musical literacy through the internalization use of a shared musical vocabulary and repertoire styles to express their dynamics, ideas, and phrasings to be able to communicate with other musicians in a clear and concise way, to create a not just a self-sufficient guitarist, but a well-rounded musician. My final goal involves instilling confidence in musical performance through a welcoming non-competitive environment where a student can build skills and experience while simultaneously feeling free to express their musical ideas without the pressure of failure or fear of embarrassment.

It should be noted that these concepts of musical literacy and performing all revolve around communication and presentation skills at their core which are lasting ideas that will prevail throughout student’s careers within and outside of the musical space, creating not only well-rounded musicians but well-rounded individuals.