Daniel Garcia, adjunct music professor, has been playing guitar for more than 40 years and teaching at MC for 15 years.
DANIEL GARCIA / COURTESY
By Karen Flores, Staff Writer
Daniel Garcia, adjunct professor of music and theater, was the second faculty member to perform as part of the Faculty Recital Series on March 26.
The performance featured classical guitar compositions from Spain as well as Latin America. Garcia spoke to The Quadrangle about the repertoire chosen.
“I’m from Madrid, Spain, and I like to play music from Spain and Latin America,” Garcia said. “I enjoy playing this the most because we can make a difference from other players who didn’t play their music. Every couple of months, I learn and pick up new pieces of music, or I go back to music I played in the past and just bring it back to life. It depends on what kind of program I want to put together.”
The repertoire included compositions by Luis de Narváez, Heitor Villa-Lobos, Manuel Ponce, Agustín Barrios and Antonio Ruiz-Pipó and was followed by a reception.
Garcia said having this series exposes students to different types of music and he thinks students should take advantage of seeing live music on campus.
“I always tell students to take advantage of being students because once you’re not a student, nothing’s free,” Garcia said. “I think students can get exposed to different styles of music, especially guitar. Everybody connects the guitar with rock, and many students have never even heard classical guitar music. So it’s good to display music on campus and share what our department does.”
Mark Pottinger, Ph.D., department chair of the music and theater department, said that this series was created to showcase the expertise of the professors while also giving students the chance to come and enjoy live music.
“This series comes directly from the faculty who want to share their musical expertise and the students who have been wanting an opportunity to see the mastery of the professors who they have learned from and take lessons with during class and within ensembles like orchestra, jazz band, singers, and others,” Pottinger said.
This semester is the premier of the series. Pottinger hopes that the series continues to grow and allow the faculty to showcase their hard work to students and the campus community while also being celebrated.
“We hope to have at least two recitals per semester, one in the earlier half of the semester and one in the latter,” Pottinger said. “We give the faculty an opportunity, not only to present, but we try to honor that with the reception following the performance and allow them to be celebrated for what they present.”
Nicholas Moretti, a sophomore sound studies major, believes that this series is a good way to share musical art with people. He enjoyed seeing his guitar professor share his talent with the campus community.
“Music is art. I’m all about public art sharing,” Moretti said. “The human element in a performance is something powerful and important. As a student, it’s inspirational to see Professor Garcia using the same techniques he teaches me every day in his own performance. He’s changed my playing for the better.”
Victoria Laing, a sophomore digital media arts major, hopes that these kinds of performances continue to happen and that displaying and showcasing different art forms around campus becomes normal.
“I hope they continue doing this and get more professors involved with it to the point where it is normal to have professional showcases around campus,” Laing said. “Hopefully other departments also showcase the other types of art that their faculty may want to showcase to students. Opportunities to see [their talents] allow students to see why this person is teaching them and add to the respect students and professors have for each other. It’s inspiring.”