First Performance at GFA Louisville Kentucky on Sunday!
Tantalus quartet and Gerald Garcia with the GFA orchestra
Concerto for Guitar Quartet and Guitar Orchestra (“Spectral Dreams”) by Gerald Garcia – World Premiere
1.Traum Trauermarsch (in memoriam Evan Crawford)
2. Archipelago (in memoriam Arthur Garcia)
Performed by the Tantalus Quartet and GFA Guitar Orchestra for whom it was written.
The piece came together very quickly (3-4 weeks) and is (I only realised on completion) in memory of a friend who died very recently (a guitarist and teacher, Evan Crawford). It is also a tribute to my father (Arthur Garcia), who died 2 years ago and the power of the human spirit to find joy despite grief and loss. The two movements are based on the initials EC and AG in various guises! The first movement starts with an (in)famous high tremolo E which Evan uses in his popular arrangement of Borodin’s “In the Steppes of Central Asia” – all this was unconscious when the piece came together. “Archipelago” refers to the Cape Verde and Canary Islands off the coast of West Africa where I was when the music came to me. It is dedicated to the Tantalus Quartet and the wonderful enterprise that is the GFA.
I just wanted to write to you and let you know how much I enjoyed playing the solo Contra Bass for your compositions at the GFA. I will be going back to college in august for my sophomore year so I will be eligible to go to next years GFA convention in Los Angeles and I hope to see you there. It was my privilege to be conducted by you and it was also my pleasure.
Hi George!
It was great working with you – thanks so much for your time and the work you put into the piece.
It was a pleasure to meet your fellow pluckers as well.
Best of luck with everything, and I certainly hope to see you before too long.
Gerald