Australian Guitarist

Anthony Garcia

Australian Guitarist / Composer Anthony Garcia is regarded as a musician of enormous creativity, technical mastery and artistic expression. Anthony holds a deep appreciation for the line that connects all musical genres into a timeless spiral, something subsequently reflected in his compositional style. His recently released CD Skyfler demonstrates an amalgam of folk music with jazz, classical and contemporary styles that create an original soundscape of universal appeal.

Born in Houston, Texas, Anthony spent some years travelling with his family throughout South East Asia and Australia before moving to Brisbane, Australia where he began his classical guitar studies in earnest with James Lloyd at the Brisbane School of Guitar. During his teenage years Anthony developed a love for rock and jazz that saw him play with a number of Brisbane rock groups and jazz ensembles. Jazz offered Anthony the perfect outlet to further his innate desire to improvise. Being exposed to these different styles of music have helped shape Anthony’s unique ability to compose and perform on the classical guitar.

Over a ten year period of tertiary study Anthony received a Bachelor of Arts in Modern Asian Studies from Griffith University in 1994, a Diploma of Music from the Queensland Conservatorium of Music studying under Julian Byzantine also in 1994, and a Bachelor of Music degree with First Class Honors from the University of Queensland in 1996, studying under Isolde Schaupp. He was subsequently awarded a scholarship from the University of Queensland and completed a Masters in Music Performance in the year 2000. In 1994 he spent three months studying in Mexico City at La Escuela de Arte Guitarristico under the guidance of the renowned virtuoso and Maestro Manuel Lopez Ramos.

Eager to learn more about his ancestry Anthony returned to Mexico in 1999, basing himself in Merida, Yucatan. During his four years as artist / teacher at La Universidad Autonoma de Yucatan he established and directed a university guitar orchestra, a yearly guitar festival and a monthly recital series. In 2003 the festival combined with the Guitar Foundation of America’s annual festival and remains to this day one of Mexico’s burgeoning festivals offering young performers from around the region the opportunity to express their art. Anthony’s first CD Desde Merida was recorded in Mexico and contains works for guitar by J.S. Bach, J.K. Mertz, Manuel M. Ponce, Villa Lobos and Izaac Albeniz.

As a soloist Anthony has performed throughout Australia and Mexico offering diverse and colourful programs to audiences in regional and metropolitan centers. His solo recitals have included a fusion of repertoire from the baroque and classical periods, Spanish works from La Bella Epoca, works by Latin American composers such as Barrios, Villa Lobos and Ponce, contemporary Australian and American music as well as jazz arrangements and free improvisations. Anthony has also presented programs in a wide range of classical, jazz and folk ensembles. Some notable performances include El Concierto de Aranjuez with the University of Queensland Orchestra in 1997 and an arrangement of Bachians Brasilieras with La Orchesta Sinfonica del Estado de Yucatan in Merida, Mexico in 2002.

His passion for individual expression has led Anthony to focus more on his own compositions, and since returning to Australia he has been presenting programs of his own works. In 2004 Anthony received federal funding from the Contemporary Music Touring Program. The Skyflyer Tour 2004 took Anthony through regional NSW and QLD where he performed the music from his latest CD. Some of his performances for 2005 include recitals for the Sydney Guitar Society’s annual “Summer School” in January, in Perth at KULCHA on behalf of the WA Guitar Society and Voyager Estate Margaret River in February, at the Frankston International Guitar Festival in March, Bendigo Easter Festival and in July at the Darwin International Guitar Festival.

A dedicated educator Anthony continues to offer a broad range of workshops and lectures at universities, secondary schools and for the general public. His current workshop series One World One Music incorporates an open philosophy of music making utilising techniques from various traditions including classical, jazz and folk methodologies. Anthony’s lectures take this approach further discussing the universality of music and its importance in the field of self development.

Anthony currently resides in Brisbane, Australia with his wife Jennifer and two sons Gabriel and Ruben.