Zac Garcia's Blog

March 26

2009-03-26T17:31:00.000-07:00

Just writing to give another update. On Tuesday March, 17, I became the newest member of the Board of the RMCMA, the music school from which I got my start in Opera. I hope to provide an integral source of feedback to the school from a student's perspective. Once some things are put in order, I'm to be the Chair of the Student Advisory Committee! This all came on the tail end of a phenomenal showing at the school's fundraiser, Crescendo, at which I performed; and amazingly, even in this rough economy, the school came in well over its projected gain from the event. My thanks to Hyun Kim of the University of Colorado's School of Music Doctoral program for accompanying me at Crescendo.

Zac

http://www.rmcma.org/
http://www.blacktie-colorado.com/premiere_events/largepics.cfm?id=96243&partyid=2144&picorder=0
http://www.blacktie-colorado.com/premiere_events/largepics.cfm?id=96252&partyid=2144&picorder=0

Emerald City Opera: Opera Art Institute

2009-03-26T17:14:00.000-07:00

Dear Zac Garcia,

Congratulations! Emerald City Opera is delighted to invite you to Steamboat Springs, Colorado this summer as a participant in the 2009 Opera Artist Institute (OAI). Attached please find a 2009 OAI Participant Agreement for your review. A list of the 2009 Event Descriptions, 2009 OAI Faculty Biographies and a 2009 OAI Rehearsal Schedule will follow shortly. This year's Institute will feature participants in a variety of ways. We have chosen a group of singers for their specific capabilities and various levels of training, and have assigned you the following positions in the program:

Menotti One-Acts (1 of 2 perfs/Double Cast):
Il Commissario di Polizia; understudy Ben
The Elixir of Love-Institute (1 or 2 of 4 perfs/Double Cast):
Chorus
The Elixir of Love-Mainstage (3 perfs):
Chorus

Opening Arias Concert (1 perf):
assigned arias/ensembles (repertoire to follow)
Scenes Concert (1 perf):
assigned arias/ensembles (repertoire to follow)
Garden Arias Concert (1 of 3 perfs):
assigned arias/ensembles: TBA
Masterclasses (2 of 7 sessions):
2 arias of your choice: TBD @ Institute

You will be in residence in Steamboat Springs, CO between July 19 - August 16,2009 to perform in The Elixir of Love by G. Donizetti and a triple-bill of “One Acts” Amelia Goes to the Ball/The Old Maid and the Thief/The Telephone by G. C. Menotti as assigned.

Please feel free to contact the Institute Coordinator with any questions or needs. Congratulations, we look forward to working with you this summer in beautiful Steamboat Springs.

Best regards,

Keri Rusthoi
Artistic Director

Arias@Avos

2009-03-26T17:10:00.000-07:00

Singer Showcase: Sponsored by the Opera Fort Collins Guild

Arias@ Avos this month will showcase outstanding regional high school classical singers.

Headliner Zachary Garcia, baritone, has won numerous awards including Classical Singer High School regional winner and national semi-finalist, two-time first place winner in the Metropolitan State Vocal Arts Competition-High School Division, and Senior Division winner of Kiwanis Stars of Tomorrow. Zachary has performed with Opera Fort Collins, University of Colorado Boulder Light Opera, and Colorado College's Vocal Arts Symposium. He is a student of the distinguished recitalist and award-winning recording artist, baritone Patrick Mason of CU Boulder, who will be performing with Zachary as a special guest.

Featured singers are the 2009 winners of the regional preliminary of the Classical Singer High School competition: mezzo soprano Tatiana Ogan, soprano Katie Bray, soprano Kahlie Metz, and soprano Vidushi Goyal. Karen Stoody is the pianist. Cynthia Vaughn is the program coordinator. Avogadro's Number, 605 S. Mason, Fort Collins, 4-6 pm, Sunday, March 29. Donations to the Opera Fort Collins Guild support local opera programs.

February 15

2009-02-15T11:44:00.000-08:00

As of now, I have been accepted into both CU and CSU. The CU College of Music gave me a full-tuition waiver plus four thousand dollars per year. I was excited to find that I am the first undergraduate at the CU College of Music to ever have received this amount of scholarship, or to get an early offer. I am also excited that my previous assumption of a $9700 gap between full tuition and full ride, is not so. The full tuition waiver was given to me by the College of Music, and thus I am still eligible for in house admission scholarships in addition to the FAFSA. I have accepted CU's offer and will be enrolling there in the Fall.

CSU offered me a full tuition scholarship through the Classical Singer competition in 2007, but I would still have to audition to get accepted.

I unfortunately did not make it into any of the big competitions to which I applied, but I did win second place in the Metro State Vocal Arts Competition High School Division! The end of last year was full for me as I performed in Unity Church of Boulder's Christmas service and completed my seventh semester finals. I did exceptionally well, scoring all A's, and have sent my midyear report to CU. Last week I sang the national anthem at the Standley Lake basketball game at the Pepsi Center in Denver, and as a perk, got to stay for the Nuggets game afterward.

This year I am finishing up my last semester of senior year, and am winning the battle against Senioritis by turning my Anatomy and Physiology class into an independent study modeled after the Undergraduate Vocal Pedagogy class offered by CU. I received my transcript from the University of Miami for the classes I took with them in Austria and the music theory course I completed in December. I am happy to report that I currently have a 4.0 GPA at the University of Miami. That's my life so far this year.

First Quarter

2008-10-26T10:21:00.000-07:00

Hi,

I just wanted to give a little update on my life and musical endeavors. On September 29th, I auditioned for the College of Music at Colorado University. On October 3rd, I was notified of my acceptance to the program. I talked with Professor Mason, my vocal coach, and learned that the Dean of the College of Music authorized them to make a scholarship offer before March. Thus I am receiving a letter, not valid until my acceptance by the University, which guarantees me a full-tuition scholarship plus one thousand dollars per year. I also learned that in my audition, I scored the higher than any applicant in the past decade! So now I have to wait until December 15th for my acceptance to become official.

In the meantime, I have entered into several competitions to try and make up the $9700 gap between full-tuition and full-ride. This Friday, Halloween, I am competing in the Third Annual Metro State vocal Arts competition with a prize of $300. I just completed my DVD demo for the Young Arts competition in Miami, Florida, and I should hear from them in December. If I make it through the pre-screening, I will get a one week, all expenses paid trip to Miami to receive vocal instruction, movement and theory classes, and compete in the final competition for $10 000 cash. In addition, I am a member of the FastWeb scholarship program which sends me notifications of upcoming scholarship opportunities, especially concerning music. Recently it notified me that I would qualify for the Jack Kent Cooke Scholarship should I choose to apply. I did some research and the scholarship is $10 000 that I can put toward whatever musical exploit that I want. I got the (large) application and sent out a demo CD and my letters of recommendation. I should be notified of acceptance or denial, hopefully the former, by January first. If I get into the final competition for the award, I will get my flight to Boston and hotel paid for and I will appear on NPR’s From The Top radio show. I am very excited for the coming months to hear from these various programs and hopefully be travelling and competing.

On the academic front, I was nominated for the Boettcher Scholarship, a prestigious award of full-ride plus stipend, given to Colorado students who exhibit academic excellence. From the entire state, the top five students from each of the high schools are nominated for the award. A lengthy application is given, and submitted, and on November 28th, eighty people are notified of their advancement. Those people are given interviews and then forty are chosen to move into the final round, from which several get the Boettcher Scholarship. Hopefully I will be one of those people. I have had a number of other things working in my favor on college applications. I scored highly on the PSAT/NMSQT making me a National merit Commended Student and a National Hispanic Scholar, and I scored highly on the AP exams, making me an AP Scholar with distinction. With these awards my mailbox has been flooded with letters of scholarship to colleges I have absolutely no intention of applying to, like New Mexico Tech… But nonetheless, I am happy when I see that all of these colleges are interested. Upon my return from Austria, I enrolled in an online theory course through the University of Miami. So far I have been acing it, scoring perfect on the Midterm and near perfect on all the other exams. I hope that this class will give me a jump on my theory classes as a freshman at CU.

Keep checking my blog, and I'll update whatever happens next with scholarships, competitions, etc. Thanks.

Sincerely,
Zac Garcia

Wednseday 13

2008-08-13T01:24:00.001-07:00

Wow, I was sitting in my room packing last night and wondering how exactly the trip had ended so soon. My flight out is at 9:20 tomorrow morning. I fly to Heathrow and sit for three hours, then I fly direct to Denver and get home at 4. Climbing Untersberg didn't work out so well, it rained and rained so we cancelled the trip. Sunday I went with my friend Lauren to the Salt Mines in Haline. They were so cool. At their deepest point, we were 200m below the surface, and the mine went into Germany! Monday I went to German in the morning, then went home and slept until it was time to perform my Don Giovanni duet. After that, we went home and had mashed potatoes and eggs with ham for dinner. Yesterday I sang at the Masterclass given by Betty Bullock. She gave very good tips and I was flattered with how nit-picky she got (that means all the vocal errors I could have made were fine). I then went home and packed. This morning I went to German to take my final exam for the class. I think it went well, but we'll see. Now I'm sitting in a coffee shop about to leave to meet a friend and talk. Later this evening I have my final concert of the program where I will be singing Alerseelen. This may be my last post of the trip. If it is, thank you to all who have supported me and my trip to Austria. It really has been unforgettable and I would not have been able to do it without the help of so many people like my mom for always supporting me and encouraging me, my church for giving me the venue to raise money for the trip, my tia, Tom for my website and all the people who donated money and effort so that I could make this dream a reality. Thank you for reading my blog, and I hope to see you all back in the States.

Alwiedersehen,

Zac

Friday 8

2008-08-09T07:49:00.000-07:00

First off, happy birthday to my mom. I gave her a call at about 12:30 in the morning her time which was about 8:30 here so that my German class and I could sing her Zum Geburstag! (Happy Birthday in German). After the phone call I took my German test, which I think I did fairly well on. That kind of scares me, because everytime I think I did really bad on a test, I usually do well, but everytime I think I did well, I do terribly. Well, we'll see Monday. So yesterday I had a fabulous masterclass led by Michelle DeYoung, a Soprano singing at the Fespiel Haus right now in Bluebeard's Castle. She was a wonderful teacher and she lives in Evergreen, Colorado! The other two CU kids and I went up to her after the class to ask her if she had any desire to teach at CU, and she said that she was really hoping to get a postion on the faculty! After the masterclass, I went home, went for a bike ride - I almost made it to Germany - and then went out to see La Traviata being shown on the big screen at the Domplatz. The film got maybe through the first act and then in began pouring. My friends (who were smart enough to bring an umbrella) and I (not so smart) left the plaza and went home.

Today, after German and lunch, we ran through the opera scenes for the performance on Monday, and we got together to visit Hellbrun Castle. It was sunny and warm so I again left my umbrella. By the time we got on the bus and made it out of the city, it was pouring...again. We got off the bus, toured the museum and went to the Watergames. The Watergames is what the Prince-Bishop of Salzburg built in his spare time. It started out in a courtyard (still raining) with a table for ten. The guide asked for ten brave volunteers to sit at the table and they did. If the guests got too drunk, too rowdy, or too boring, the Prince-Bishop would flip a swich and water would shoot up from underneath their seats and all around them. The tour continued to a "bird-room" where pipes were played to sound like birds, controlled only by water pressure. At every stop along the way, nozzles were hidden in the rocks and walls around us ready to soak us when we passed. Luckily I saw most of the nozzles and got out of the way. On our way back home, I made plans with some friends to climb the 1972m Untersberg mountain behind the Festung(Fortress). Those plans will most likely fall through as the rain is supposed to continue throughout the weekend. I'm going to bed now, just in case we do climb a mountain tomorrow.

Bis spater

Friday 1/Wednesday 6

2008-08-02T05:20:00.000-07:00

Ok, I definitely thought I posted this blog on Friday, but I got home really late so I must have hit the "Save" button and not the "Post" button. Anyway here is the post from Friday combined with the post from today:

So this week has blown by me; it's been filled with masterclasses and opera scene rehearsals and midterms. Monday we had a masterclass with Sylvia Greenberg followed by a concert of the competition winners and then dinner. Tuesday we went to a masterclass by David Aronson and I met with a friend to celebrate her birthday up on the top of the Salzburg Fortress. On our walk there, we ran into Rollando Villazon outside of the Fespiel Haus! It was her dream come true and she got some pictures with him and a hug. We then walked along the base of the hill on which the fortress is built, and we ended up watching Don Giovanni on the big screen in the Domplaz. Wednesday, Dr. Moteki gave a masterclass followed by a very low key evening and dinner with my family. Yesterday I went to a very modern yet very cool performance of Don Giovanni where I saw Anna Netrebko at the reception. At first I didn't recognize her because she is nine months pregnant, but the more I thought about it, I realized that it was her. Now I have a very blurry picture (her bodyguard was giving people with cameras dirty looks, so I took a picture as discretely as possible). Tonight was the Mid-term recital at the Musikum and I performed reasonably well I tought, and very well from what I heard. But being a self-critical singer, I'm hesitant to take for granted the compliments others give. After the concert we all went out to dinner then we went out to a dance club to party. It's about four in the morning right now, and I have to be up at seven for a tour of the Fespiel Haus, so I'm going to bed.

Wednesday 6

So this is the post I meant to get on today and write...

Saturday I kept everything very low key. I got up at seven, almost unwillingly, and went on the tour of the Fespiel Haus. It was more than worth it. In the Haus, there are three stages: one bigger than the Met, one the same size as the Vienna stage, and one carved into the mountain behind it. On this set was where Romeo E Juliette was being performed later on that night. After the tour, I went home and slept and then proceeded to meet some friends in town for dinner since we all had the Schubert-Szenen concert that night. I ended up being too tired to go, so I sold my ticket to a man for 70 Euro! He was overjoyed as the seat was an upgrade from his own, and I was overjoyed that I wouldn't go broke before the trip ended. Sunday I had a long Reiki class with my house mother who is a Reiki Master, and it was really interesting. After that my roommate and I went out and played some basketball on the courts near our house. Monday I had a masterclass with Mary Dibbern, which was cool, but since I do not have any French repertoire and she was only focusing on French diction, it could only help so much. After the class I met up with some friends and we went to Jedermann which was really fascinating, and then longest running play in history, but as it was in German, I could only understand so much. Yesterday the last of the winner's concerts was performed at the Altkatholische Kirche and afterward I went to hear Matthias Goerne, one of the world's leading baritones, sing at the Mozarteum Grosser Saal. It was incredible and I got his autograph along with the pianist's! Today I had German in the morning, then a voice lesson - where we finally finished the technical pieces of Aleerseleen, and moved on to the emotional, deeper meaning - and now I'm home getting ready to go for a bike ride and then to the Faculty Recital this evening. I can't believe I only have one week left, it's kind of sad and it's gone by so quickly.

Bis Spater

Sunday 27

2008-07-27T09:27:00.000-07:00

So friday night, I met a friend down at the college in the center of town and we walked to the Dom zu Salzburg, the biggest cathedral in all of Salzburg, and we watched Mozart's Coronation Mass. It was incredible! There are five huge organs in the church and two of them were played at the concert. After the concert, I met up with some other friends and went out to dinner, then met up with some different friends and we went out for a bit. Saturday I slept in and went to an American Jazz concert at the Domplaz, then went home for dinner, then went back out to meet some friends who just got back from Vienna and Munich (I didn't go because it was too short and too much money), and we went to see fire dancers...I thought polynesian fire dancers, but they were Austrians in Liderhosen and Dirndils holding candles and dancing. It was cool. Today, Don Carlo is playing at the Domplaz, and I might go see that with some friends. Most of my friends have tickets to see Don Giovanni at the Fespiel Haus, but mine aren't until the 31st. I think I'm going out for now.

Till later,

Zac

Friday 23

2008-07-25T03:30:00.000-07:00

Wow, I've really gotten behind on writing. Sorry about that. Last Friday, I auditioned for an opera scene and was cast as Don Giovanni in the La ci Darem la Mano Duet. Before the audition, I had some time so i went with a couple friends from CU Boulder, who are also at the program, to the Europark Mall. We looked around at a couple of stores until we wandered into Hervitz Sports. Steven (CU), and I were looking for a new pair of sneakers to play basketball and go running in, but all of the so-called sales were marked down to around 80 Euros. As we were leaving the store, we passed a stack of boxes marked "9,99" and we opened a box to see if they were any good. The shoes I bought were red soccer shoes that had the Austrian flag on them and had the word Osterreich across the side. Osterreich is German for Austria. Steven also bought a pair and when we got back, everyone in the program wanted a pair, especially my host parents. They had their son go out and get two pairs for each of them! Evidently a couple of days later, the store was sold out. So Saturday I slept in and then went out in the evening for my friend Lindsey's 21st birthday. Sunday the group went on a tour of the Salzkammergut, the region from which Salzburg mined its salt and thus its wealth. The towns were beautiful and I've included pictures. Each of the places we visited was right next to a lake, and the last place we went on the tour was a lake formed by a glacier right up the mountain. Apparently on a sunny day you can see the glacier and the little streams of water flowing out of it. The water in all of the lakes was so clear that you could see to the bottom and watch all the fish swim around, even from shore. There are some pictures of a yellow church that I've posted; that church is the one where they filmed parts of The Sound of Music! It's been raining pretty steadily lately but it's a welcome change from the few 80 degree days we had here. This week has been packed with masterclasses and German homework. I just had my second test yesterday and I hope I did well, but possessive pronouns are really getting the best of me. This weekend we have free of classes as the Salzburg Fespiel starts tomorrow and most of the kids in the program have taken the down time to go abroad to places like Vienna, Munich, Graz, Istanbul, Prague and many places in Italy. I was tempted to go to Vienna with two of my roommates, but I had an overwhelming desire to catch up on sleep instead of waking up at six to catch a train. I'm looking forward to a weekend of R&R, and I'm eager to see some of the Operas put on this weekend.

Tschus,

Zac

Thursday 17

2008-07-17T02:13:00.000-07:00

I'm sorry I haven't written in a long time. I've been incredibly busy. Yesterday we went on a tour of old Salzburg and I saw some of the most amazing cathedrals I have ever been in. There is this restaurant that was built in 806 CE and it is still standing and has GREAT food.

I live with three other guys and we're really close, almost brothers already. I have had one lesson and one coaching, one masterclass and four German classes. I'm conversational enough that I can get a cab, order food, and make small talk. I'm very impressed with how quickly I'm picking up the language, but I'm still a bit nervous for our first test tomorrow.

I posted some new pictures and the mountains visible in the background are the Alps...we're surrounded by them and it is amazing. We hiked up to the Salzburg Fortress that overlooks the city and from there you could see for miles.

Today I have a relatively slow day (thank god). I have a masterclass in three hours, but until then I'm sitting in a coffee shop and studying for the German test.

Our hostess is the nicest woman I have ever met. Every morning over breakfast we get german lessons in vocabulary and phrases. The first phrase she taught us was Kine ich bitte noch eine bier haben. Which means "may I have another beer please". She said that it would be the most important phrase we would learn.

I am having such a great time and I will post more pictures soon. Oh, the pictures I have already posted are of my house and room. The two guys standing on the balcony are two of my roommates, Kevin (wearing the glasses) and Bryan. Bryan is from Long Island, NY and Kevin is from Texas. It is so funny to hear us all talking over breakfast, the accents are so different and colorful. It's a lot of fun. Well, I think I'm going to go and get in some practice now. The weather out here is overcast and a bit rainy, but it is so nice and cool. OK, I'm going now. I'll write again soon.

Tschus,

Zac

Salzburg - Monday, July 14

2008-07-14T15:34:00.001-07:00

I had my first 2 hour German class, which went really well. Several of us got together and went to a coffee shop to get our homework done. I auditioned in the afternoon and everyone was told I was the baby of the group at 17. Going to look around Salzburg again and meeting up with a friend to see a movie. I will post pictures soon.

Zac

Salzburg - Sunday July 13

2008-07-14T15:29:00.000-07:00

We had a great breakfast and decided to take a walk around Salzburg. I got a bus pass for my stay in Salzburg. It is not like the monthly passes in Boulder, but a 30 day pass based on the date you purchase it. We went to orientation at the college, had dinner - which was absolutely delicious - and stayed up quite late talking politics, religion and everything else we could think of with some of the students staying at the dorm. It rains quite frequently, but it is beautiful here.

Zac

Austria - Sat. July 12

2008-07-14T15:24:00.000-07:00

Sorry it has taken me so long to post. I landed in Munich and met with fellow students going to Salzburg College at the airport. We received a short orientation and boarded the bus to travel to Salzburg. What a green country this is.... I have never seen any countryside so green in my life!! We all slept on the 2-1/2 hour bus ride to Salzburg. Upon our arrival, I was met by my host family. There are 4 students staying at the Wallner house (my host family). My room is on the top floor and is like a tower. I have a view of the Alps and of a very large castle on the hillside.

I will write again soon.

Zac

Big Day Part II

2008-07-11T13:37:00.001-07:00

Thanks to my mom, I got an earlier flight out of Denver which gave me two hours rather than just a half hour to walk from one end of Dulles to the other. I haven't flown United in so long that I forgot how large the UA jets are. I got stuck in the middle of a five-wide row, but luckily I sat down before anyone else. On the flight there, the TV was free! So I watched Fool's Gold which lasted the duration of the flight. It's 4:44 local time and I have exactly one hour and twenty-one minutes 'till I leave for England. This is easily the most crowded airport I have ever been in...every shop has a line out the door to get in, even the Hudson Newsstand. Anyway, I'm starved and am going wait in line to get something to eat.

Till later,

Zac Garcia

Big Day Part I

2008-07-11T08:06:00.000-07:00

Today I fly out to Austria! I'm sitting at my terminal in DIA getting ready to begin the first of four legs to Austria. Needless to say, I'm incredibly excited, and more than ready to meet my host family. It's 9:10 and I have about an hour till my flight departs. I already got my money exchanged for Euros and Pounds (for my stop in Heathrow), and it was astounding when I had to pay $109 for 50 Pounds. I'm bringing about $1000 American which roughly translates to 600 Euros...disappointing. I'll write again when I reach Dulles.

Till then,

Zac Garcia

Almost Gone... 3 Days and Counting

2008-07-08T11:25:00.000-07:00

So it's Tuesday the 8th, and I'm sitting in Folsom St. Coffee CO. putting some final things in order for the trip. Only three more days till I leave and I am psyched to go! I leave from DIA at 11:00 and get into Dulles International where I sit and wait for my plane to Heathrow, from there I run to catch my plane to Munich, and once in Munich I board a train to Salzburg! I suppose that I'm taking the scenic route, but it's better that way. Anyway, I'm off to find something cool and boulderish to give my host family.
Till next time...

Zac