Gerald Garcia – studied Chemistry at Oxford University and now lives in Oxford.
When not performing as a guitarist in Borneo or the Arctic Circle, he writes music and conducts and trains ensembles.
His ’25 Etudes Esquisses’ for guitar solo have been recorded for NAXOS by John Holmquist and Alison Bendy and his music has been played and recorded by David Russell, Craig Ogden, the Amadeus Duo, the Eden-Stell Duo, Xue Fei Yang,the Los Angeles Guitar Quartet and John Williams. His compositions have also been performed or recorded by the Oxford Concert Party and the early music ensemble Charivari Agreable.
His concerto for 2 guitars based on themes collected by Garcia Lorca (the Lorca Concerto) has been performed throughout Europe and is a staple of the guitar duo repertoire – it has recently been recorded on the Hanssler label by the Amadeus Duo and with the National Youth Guitar Ensemble by the Eden Stell Duo.
His concerto for violin, guitar and strings (Concerto Romantico) was performed in February 2013 to a capacity audience in Vilnius Congress Hall by the Lithuanian State Symphony with Vilhelmas Cepinskis and Sergej Krinicin
His orchestral and choral music has been performed at the Festival for Youth and Music two years running and he has written many guitar and orchestral works.
His music and arrangements have been published worldwide by Mel Bay, Holley Music, ABG publications, Guitarissimo and Cramer.
His teaching experience has included educational workshops with Kent Opera, English National Opera and the Academy of St.Martin-in-the- Fields.He is a regular tutor at the International Guitar Festivals in Iserlohn, Germany and West Dean, UK.
He is at present musical director of the National Youth Guitar Ensemble which brings together young guitarists from all over the UK to play guitar orchestral pieces, some of which have been commissioned for the group.
He has taken part in and created music workshops for both school children and teachers in Britain and Scotland and is a popular adjudicator at music festivals around the world.
As a session guitarist he has been heard in many films scored by Gabriel Yared, Michel Legrand, Stanley Meyers and Philippe Sarde, amongst others.
He has recorded more than 14 CDs with Naxos, Meridian, Acoustics and Saga which have sold more than 50,000 copies world-wide.
He has performed with many other musicians and actors, notably guitarists Paco Peña, John Renbourn and John Williams, and performs in a duo with Alison Bendy and with Simon Mayor’s Mandolinquents as well as in an occasional Irish”ensemble” with Mick Henry, Bernard O’Donoghue, John Pethica and Tom Paulin.
In October 1995 he toured China in a duo with guitarist John Williams playing to audiences of tens of thousands of Chinese guitarists and teaching at Beijing and Shanghai conservatoires.
He has been invited back to China more recently with teaching posts at Guangzhou, Beijing and Chengdu.
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