PRESS
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GERMANY
"While he has devoted much of his life to learning indigenous music.Garcia also revels in playing the new and unexpected…..Garcia's musical vocabulary not only spans centuries and cultures, it's also spontaneous." DEUTSCHE WELLE GERMANYS INTERNATIONAL BROADCASTER MEXICO “Christopher Garcia is frequently invited as a soloist in symphony and chamber orchestras in Europe and America to play instruments that are rarely associated with music of the European tradition including tlapan huehuetl, teponaztli, huilacapiztli and atecocolli from Mesoamerica, tabla from north India,kanjira and ghatam from South India...." TIEMPO LIBRE MAGAZINE ARTE Y CULTURA EN MEXICO UNITED STATES “Alegria possesses a beautiful voice is a gifted performer with an incredible work ethic and it has been my privilege to witness this evolution from young girl to artist. She is a joy to work with: quick to use her creative mind and open to collaboration. A fine musician singer and upholder of traditional music values and skills. It is in her blood. Her father one of greatest indigenous musicians has helped her become the treasure she now is.” SUZANNA GUZMAN MEZZO SOPRANO UNITED STATES "Christopher Garcia, plays indigenous instruments such as turtleshells and clay flutes in the LATC production of LA VIRGEN DE GUADALUPE DIOS INANTZIN……..the East L.A. native travels the world with different ensembles but clears his calendar each December to take part in the cathedral's annual presentation." LOS ANGELES TIMES UNITED KINGDOM "On Tuesday 4 July 2023, the Cambridge community was invitedto enter the Chapel at Churchill College to hear sounds and wordsmostly unknown in the UK, and to learn of the resounding messages given to them by a world-class musician and educationist. The event formed the second part of the 2023 Multicoloured and Melodious Dimensions of the Americas: Music, Colour, and Craft Playshop and featured the talents of Christopher Garcia. A trained percussionist specialising in Indigenous instrumentsfrom around the globe, Garcia’s rhythmic focus that night was trained upon Mexican heritage soundscapes One guiding reason for his visit was to answer the question: how can we help to advance the connections we might have to art, languages, and innovative research about the past? Garcia’s rejoinder included playful discovery and immersive learning opportunities. He full-throatily performed for ninety minutes, breaking on occasion to describe each instrument and tell penetrating stories. The dozens of instruments Garcia brought included membranophones, ideophones, and aerophones—each a mnemonic of the ancient roots of musicality in the Americas—and the intimate space became conducive to the study of Garcia’s concept of resonancia (‘resonance’). This resonance can contain enduring memories, too, as witnessed in the above passage from the Florentine Codex, an ethnography of the Mexica people and other Indigenous peoples of the Americas recorded in the sixteenth century. Furthering Cambridge’s ethnolinguistics The core purpose of the event was to continue to foster public inquiry into the archaeology, art and history of the Americas, in this instance via music and craft has been the mission of the Americas Archaeology Group with the McDonald Institute and the CRASSH Multidimensional Dialogues (MD) research network. Garcia’s play-and-present style contributed immensely to the motivation of understanding the legacies of living traditions, keeping them alive, and experiencing the sights, sounds, and artwork that once echoed in the past. The event built upon our group’s work with Escuelita Cambridge and, sponsored by a CRASSH workshop grant and Cambridge Language Sciences Centre’s Impact Fund, it focused on the importance of language too. Garcia’s ethnomusicology is most focused on Nahuatl (a living language throughout North America and once the lingua franca of the ‘Aztecs’) and Maya terms for objects. The research is based upon a database he has in development but also from the years Garcia has spent sharing songs in Nahuatl, Spanish and English. DR. JOSHUA FITZGERALD CAMBRIDGE UNIVERSITY |
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MEXICO
"Christopher Garcia is a critically acclaimed as a composer, and virtuosic improviser on instruments not usually associated with just one musician in every music combination possible with a virtual who’s who of musicians with performances in 28 countries on 5 continents." ATENCION SAN MIGUEL ALLENDE UNITED STATES "Opening the evening is highly unique and seriously beautiful music of the father-daughter duo Xochi Cuicatl. Presenting explorations of songs and sounds generated by the undeniably adept and adaptable Christopher Garcia on indigenous breath, string, and percussion instruments of Mexico and Mesoamerica and the gifted and evocative Alegria Garcia on voice, the haunting, stirring, and inspiring music these two wonderful artists make together is not to be missed and not soon to be forgotten." OPEN GATE THEATRE FLOWER SONGS received a standing ovation at this event, they were informed that it is the 2nd standing ovation to be had at OPEN GATE since it opened in doors 30 years ago "Christopher Garcia plays the most extraordinary music on the most extraordinary instruments with the most extraordinary musicians, and the music …. is exquisite…..it's not even music, it's an EXPERIENCE, sometimes you don't even hear it, you just feel it. This is magical stuff" JOHN SCHNEIDER, KPFK's GLOBAL VILLAGE "Christopher Garcia’s passionate commitment to indigenous music of Mexico enthralled my students. They were riveted by the authenticity of his performance. Christopher introduced us to ancestral Mexican percussion instruments and broughtan ancient civilization to life through music. His stories were captivating and offereda perspective of history unfamiliar to most of our students. We are eager to have Christopher return to the Merit School of Music in Chicago to present to even more students." DR. CHIP STALEY LARGE ENSEMBLE DEPARTMENT CHAIR MERIT SCHOOL OF MUSIC CHICAGO, IL UNITED KINGDOM ‘Highly respected ethnomusicologist and percussionist from Los Angeles, CA, USA, Christopher Garcia gave a masterful, inspirational and engaging presentation on ancient Mexican music and nature-based sounds to a family audience, who were enthralled all evening. The combination of performance and informal illustrated talk was a winner from the start. A unique, multisensory experience which brought distant Mesoamerica to life. A real treat for those lucky enough to attend.’ MEXICOLORE UNITED STATES “Christopher Garcia brings a wealth of experience, dynamism, and passion to each of his events. Through ongoing research into primary sources from Mesoamerica, he is concerned with representing the wisdom and traditions of the First Peoples who inspire the music he shares. His music invites those present to look more closely at their own cultures and backgrounds, while always searching for common human ground. The event we hosted that showcased his music was a great success......" EZEKIEL STEAR PhD, AUBURN UNIVERSITY UNITED STATES
"The father and daughter duo of Christopher and Alegria Garcia presented one of the most engaging, thought-provoking, and informative lecture-demonstrations we’ve had at CalArts in some time. Deeply knowledgeable and extremely passionate, the Garcia’s presented a two-hour journey into Meso-American Music that not only showed tremendous scope and depth of knowledge but created intrigue and curiosity……much as their class was a journey to another time, place, and culture, it was equally reflective/introspective reflective/introspective, made highly personal to everyone in attendance by the masterful teaching style, fantastic anecdotes and storytelling, and soulful performances.” RANDY GLOSS DRUMMER/PERCUSSIONIST/COMPOSER/EDUCATOR CHAIR, WORLD MUSIC PERFORMANCE PROGRAMS HERB ALPBERT SCHOOL OF MUSIC @ CALARTS "In addition to being a consummate singer and musician, Alegria Garcia is also a full time archaeologist, with digs in Belize and the United States, and papers published on Mesoamerican instruments......." PERFORMING ARTS LIVE "Christopher Garcia is a multifaceted master musician that has the unique gift of becoming one with the instruments he is playing thus sharing the vibrations with those present. His knowledge and respect of the ancient instruments he plays allows him to bring to life their ancestral tones and rhythms. Anyone fortunate to be a part of this experience will be blessed with an experience they'll never forget." JERRY TELLO NATIONAL COMPADRES NETWORK "The theme of the installation is rebirth, renewal and restoration, and the music and words performed by the trio that afternoon could not have been more impactful ,,,,,,,,,the SRO crowd that packed La Tierra de la Culebra Park, was left spellbound by this musical force-of-nature and nurture, as it could not be interpreted in any other way, but the dawning of a new post-pandemic era of enlightenment and hope" Ralph Waxman Co-president, Arroyo Arts Collective Co-founder, Teatro Arroyo |
