Diego Garcia, Cello
Diego Garcia has been on the cello and conducting faculty of the Eastman Community Music School since 2004. Currently the Music Director of the Eastman Youth Chamber Soloists and of the Finger Lakes Symphony Orchestra, Mr. Garcia is also a frequent guest conductor of both youth orchestras and professional orchestras throughout the United States, Europe, the Carribean, and South America including the Flanders Music Festival (Ghent Belgium), the Parnu City Symphony (Estonia). A prize-winner in the Carolina Oramas Competition, Mr. Garcia has been featured in numerous solo and chamber music performances in Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center, and throughout South America and Europe. He has performed as Assistant Principal Cellist in the Santo Domingo Music Festival in 2001 and 2003, and as Principal Cellist of the Todi Music Festival in 2007. In addition to his work as a cellist and conductor, Mr. Garcia is also active as an arranger and composer. Mr. Garcia composed the original film score for "The Heart of Tango," which was performed by Gibbs & Main. His arrangements for the CD "Quartsemble: Tango" received rave reviews both locally and nationally. Most recently, Mr. Garcia composed Danzas Del Nuevo Mundo for Gibbs & Main. The work represents a fusion of his knowledge of folk and pop music from South America with a classical twist. Mr. Garcia holds a Bachelor's Degree in Cello Performance from the Manhattan School of Music, and has twice received conducting fellowships to the Conductor's Institute at Bard College in 2005 and 2006.
Education:
Manhattan School of Music, Bachelors in Cello Performance
Bard College, Fellowships to the Conductor’s Institute
Trained with:
Alan Harris (cello)
Alan Stepansky (cello)
Alexander Korjenko (cello)
Harold Farberman (conducting)
Marin Alsop (conducting)
Leon Botstein (conducting)
Raymond Harvey (conducting)
William Weinert (conducting)
Teaching and conducting engagements:
Eastman Community Music School, senior instructor in cello and conducting
Eastman Youth Chamber Soloists, music director
Eastman Kaleidoscope Community Orchestra (conductor)
Finger Lakes Symphony Orchestra, music director
Hampton Roads Chamber Players, guest conductor
Hochstein School of Music, cello faculty
New Horizons Symphony Orchestra, music director
PanAmerican University Summer Music Festival, guest conductor and cello faculty
Travelling Notes International Music Festival, guest conductor
Notable performances:
Todi Music Festival (Virginia), Principal Cellist
Santo Domingo Music Festival (Dominican Republic), Assistant Principal Cellist
Solos and chamber music at Lincoln Center and Carnegie Hall
Music of Paul Stuart, Paul Coleman, David Diamond and other Rochester Composers on WXXI Live From Hochstein
Conducting an off-Broadway production of “La Gran Via,” a Spanish operetta
Virginia Symphony, cellist
Hudson Valley Philharmonic, cellist
Most memorable experience with a musical instrument:
When I played the cello for the first time. I borrowed it from the school, took it out of the case, and felt a straight line between my heart and the sound of the cello.
It must be genetic:
Even though I come from a family of doctors and lawyers, almost everyone sings and plays. My dad is a music lover and has a great voice. He even recorded his own CD of his favorite tangos.
Funniest performance story:
I was on a European tour and saw my partner’s bow fly away and land in the short skirt of a beautiful Italian woman.
Why he loves to go back home:
Cali is a very cosmopolitan city full of culture and wonderful, consistently warm weather. Growing up I enjoyed the cultural exchange we had with musicians from all over the world. My teachers were from Poland, Russia, and the US in addition to Colombia.
