released June 3, 2021

In 1998 Christopher created the concept of
QUARTETO NUEVO,
influenced by the groups
OREGON,
SHAKTI,
BRACHA,
THE MAGICO TRIO
AKA
GISMONTI, GARBAREK, HADEN TRIO
and many more

musicians were invited to play his original compositions and
the music he loved to play and hear on
acoustic guitar,
bass or cello,
woodwinds
violin
with EL MONSTRO
as the primary percussive driving force
e.g.,
north Indian tabla
south Indian kanjira and ghatam
PAISTE cymbals and gongs, with
indigenous instruments of Mexico and Meso America
all within arms reach and played in real time at the same time
either with fingers, hands, feet, sticks, mallets or more
christophergarciamusic.weebly.com/el-monstro-faqs-and-facts.html
with special guests either on percussion or on violin

the invited musicians were also invited to bring in their own compositions
and THE MUSIC was able to organically grow and develop by investing
their time thru rehearsals, performances and recordings,
i.e.,
as there is more to MUSIC MAKING
than simply starting and stopping at the same time
and playing (relatively) in tune (some more than others)


the X FACTOR
in and of music,
only happens with time in real-time
like any other relationship

This caused everyone, in turn,
to play their instruments differently
as the music of rhythm was not being played traditionally,
or on traditional sounds
or within traditional forms or structures

people had to learn to make music in this environment
in the moment
at that moment
which means that they could not play "what works"

they had to come up with
a new skill,
another skill
to MAKE MUSIC in this
new sonic environment

if you were invited to
MAKE MUSIC in
GARCIA's QUARTETO NUEVO
you had to work
and get beyond the notes
get beyond the page
get beyond yourself
as the more often you do anything
the better it gets

ORGANICALLY

just like everything else in LIFE that is worthwhile

but you don't rehearse to replicate a performance.......

you rehearse so that
ANYTHING can and will happen
at ANYTIME
all the TIME
and the MUSIC takes you where it wants to
and you don't worry
about the page
or the notes on the page
or if a strong wind is going to blow your music off the stand......

this only happens by playing music
and MAKING MUSIC

in real-time

as often as possible

living it,
breathing it
and letting it wash over you

most musicians/ensembles only rehearse when they have a JOB
and not for the love and joy of MUSIC MAKING
or furthering their collective abilities

100% of GARCIA's musical income comes from
composition and performance in real time on
of mostly his compositions or his musical collaborations
340 days per year
in 28 countries on 5 continents

he does not teach publicly or privately
as he is usually composing or performing

he actually resigned from his teaching position at a music conservatory
when he found out that 90% of the musicians' income was
based on teaching and not on performing

as they were teaching young people to become future teachers
and/or
educated listeners,
but not teaching them that what they have to offer
i.e.,
finding, creating and cultivating their musical voice
is as valid as any exercise in any book that they continue
to teach out of

the members of what is currently called
QUARTETO NUEVO
do not make a living as composers
or performers
of only their own music
quite the contrary
they are paid for their services just like
any other occupation
and they cannot tour 30 to 60 consecutive
days as they were always more concerned about
losing their regular paycheck

they continue to teach publicly or privately
and none of them are able to pay their bills
only composing or performing
their own creations or anyone else's

this is not an opinion
this is a fact

which is why if you look at the reviews on their website
those reviews are from previous incarnations of
QUARTETO NUEVO

the current members never received those reviews for any of their performances as QUARTETO NUEVO

and they also never rehearsed,
recorded or performed with the following
The Moscow Symphony,
The UCLA World Jazz Ensemble,
Nels Cline,
Souhail Kaspar,
Ali Jihad Racy,
Harry Scorzo Quartet,
Malik Sow,
Mochizuki Takinojo,
Luis Villegas,
which they have listed at their website

just ask them to produce
a record,
a CD,
an album
or a program of any of the artists listed above

they cannot

nor can they produce their names on reviews which they
use on their website
as those reviews were received for
the original 5 incarnations of QUARTETO NUEVO which
they were never a part of

integrity is lacking when you use someone else's hard work
to build something you never created

Between 1998 and 2015 Garcia was the
creator
composer
arranger
driving force
and musical director
for
QUARTETO NUEVO

and there were 6 very different incarnations of
QUARTETO NUEVO since 1998

with the only constant member being Garcia
in that 17 year period,
breaking new ground
and establishing a template and foundation for
QUARTETO NUEVO

VISIT LINK BELOW FOR TIME FRAMES AND PERSONNEL
quartetonuevomusic.weebly.com/personnel.html

but the music started to change as weekly rehearsals
went to only rehearsing when the ensemble had a performance
the other musician's priorities changed

it was no longer
how could the ensemble make the best music possible
as often as possible
but
how little could the group rehearse and get paid to perform
the same compositions over and over again

he continues to
MAKE MUSIC every day of his LIFE
with musicians from
different countries,
different cultures,
different vernaculars,
different instruments etc.,
and while it has never been easy it has always done with
INTENTION
INTEGRITY
INTENSITY
PASSION
and
BALANCE

values which cannot be faked or bought and paid for or rehearsed

​as anything less
IS LESS
christophergarciamusic.weebly.com/making-music---links-and-more.html

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

COMPOSITIONS
TIMELINE

1979 thru 1998
arranged and recorded compositions for
several ensembles including
CONTINUUM
LOONEY BOOMS
QUARTETO NUEVO
ANADIS MUSIC

1998 thru 2015
composed and recorded compositions for
CONTINUUM
QUARTETO NUEVO
ANADIS MUSIC

below are his composed chamber works from 2008 to the present

as well as a performer with indigenous instruments
with performances in 28 countries on 5 continents

it does not include his performances on either
drumset
marimba
percussion of North and South India
which can be seen below
christophergarciamusic.weebly.com/previous-performances.html

or his non chamber compositions which can also be seen at the link below
christophergarciamusic.weebly.com/compositions.html


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

2011 - 2012
INDIGENA

Garcia composed music for
indigenous breath, string and percussion instruments
and
woodwind quintet
premiered by
Christopher Garcia and QUINTETO LATINO
christophergarciamusic.weebly.com/quinteto-latino.html
(60 minutes of music)
multiple performances throughout California, USA


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

2013
AGUILA
www.youtube.com/watch?v=au4UzOi0Oeg
composed by Christopher Garcia
compositions for
indigenous breath, string and percussion instruments
and
woodwind quintet

performed at the
LATINO CHAMBER MUSIC FESTIVAL
held in
San Francisco, CA
by
Christopher Garcia - indigenous breath, percussion and string percussion of Mesoamerica/Mexico
with
QUINTETO LATINO
christophergarciamusic.weebly.com/quinteto-latino.html

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
MISA AZTECA
a modern symphonic oratorio
with lyrics in Latin, Nahuatl and Spanish
composed by
Joseph Julian Gonzalez

Christopher played indigenous percussion of Mexico/Mesoamerica
at
Walt Disney Concert Hall,
Los Angeles, CA USA
christophergarciamusic.weebly.com/misa-azteca.html

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

2014/2015
MEXCLA MUSIC
compositions for
indigenous breath, string and percussion instruments
and
classical guitar
with multiple performances throughout California, USA

MEXCLA MUSIC SITE
mexclamusic.weebly.com

​CLICK ON LINK TO VIEW YOUTUBE
www.youtube.com/watch?v=V3Ag5_yLOvA
​
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
2016
A SCATTERING OF JADES
www.youtube.com/watch?v=r7PSZOWN92Y
composed by Christopher Garcia

compositions for
indigenous breath, string and percussion instruments
and
pedal harp
musicbeyondborders.weebly.com
(EXCERPT FROM MUSIC BEYOND BORDERS 90 MINUTES TOTAL )
premiered at EL CASTILLO DE CHAPULTEPEC 2016
Mexico City, MX

performed by
MUSIC BEYOND BORDERS
with
Christopher Garcia and Tasha Smith Godinez

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

2017
OUT OF THE MAYAN TOMBS

nightfirefilms.org/films/out-of-the-maya-tombs/
Garcia provided music on indigenous instruments of Mexico/Mesoamericafor the documentary
​

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

MISA AZTECA
CHAMBER VERSION
with
Christopher Garcia
Indigenous percussion instruments of Mesoamerica/Mexico
​
CLICK ON LINK TO VIEW PLAYLIST
www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL7GMXRQo3CSi1JRkCMw3Jy8aNjNCQUaq7

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Aztec Flower Songs and Story:
The Prophetical Case for Guadalupe

Lectures organized by
Joseph Julian Gonzalez
with Dr. Ezekiel Stear
and Christopher Garcia presenting
Indigenous musical performance practices

Presented at
BOWERS MUSEUM
Santa Ana, CA USA

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

2018
RESONANCIA MULTI MEDIA EVENT
CAL ARTS INAUGURAL LATIN FEST
compositions for
indigenous breath, string and percussion instruments
and
marimba
pedal harp
woodwind trio
classical guitar

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

EHECATL
composed by Christopher Garcia
www.youtube.com/watch?v=JirYb2WMfeA
compositions for
indigenous breath, string and percussion instruments
and
piano forte
extended techniques
electronics manipulation of sound in real time

(EXCERPT FROM MEXICO ATEMPORAL 60 MINUTES TOTAL )
premiered at FUNDACION SEBASTIAN
Mexico City, MX


MEXICO ATEMPORAL
Christopher Garcia - indigenous breath, percussion and string percussion of Mesoamerica/Mexico=
with
Pablo Lenero Archer - piano forte

MEXICO ATEMPORAL SITE
mexicoatemporalmusic.weebly.com/about.html

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

2019
RESONANCIA
XOCHI CUICATL
FLOWER SONGS MUSIC
FLOR Y CANTO
www.youtube.com/watch?v=JirYb2WMfeA
compositions for
indigenous breath, string and percussion instruments
marimba
poetry of MesoAmerica
voice

FLOWER SONGS MUSIC SITE
flowersongsmusic.weebly.com


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

UCLA SYMPHONY
presents
CARLOS CHAVEZ SINFONIA INDIA
christophergarciamusic.weebly.com/sinfonia-india-ucla.html

instruments provided for and percussion ensemble
coached by Christopher Garcia

the piece was performed back to back for the first time

1st with western substitute instruments
followed by a performance with
indigenous instruments as the piece was originally intended

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

THE MUSIC OF FRANK ZAPPA
performed at
St Katharinen Church Hamburg, Germany
Garcia invited to play Zappas music on concert marimba

united-mutations.blogspot.com/2019/07/zappanale-30-hamburg-event.html
​
zappanale-festival.de/en/archiv/programm-26/tag/Zappanale%2030.html?start=12
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

2020
Garcia was one of 19 musicians invited to participate
@
Defining New Directions in Latin America
and
​Latino Concert Music
Exploratory Seminar
@
RADCLIFFE INSTITUTE OF ADVANCED STUDY @ HARVARD
projects.iq.harvard.edu/latmusic/people/christopher-garcia

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

2021
Garcia was invited to present music for
NAHUA VOICES ON THE CONQUEST OF MEXICO:
"De cómo los españoles conquistaron a la ciudad de México"
Book 12, Florentine Codex
www.getty.edu/visit/cal/events/ev_3330.html

in conjunction with
GETTY RESEARCH INSTITUTE
(GRI)
THE LOS ANGELES COUNTY MUSEUM OF ART
(LACMA)
BIBLIOTECA NACIONAL DE ANTROPOLOGIA E HISTORIA

CLICK ON LINK TO EXPERIENCE THIS EVENT
www.youtube.com/watch?v=L4pxnDRKCHI

With his ensemble
FLOWER SONGS MUSIC
XOCHI CUICATL
FLOR Y CANTO

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

2022

Garcia is invited to compose and collaborate with
PERCUSSION UNDER CONSTRUCTION, a percussion ensemble
based in Germany, that he had the pleasure of working with in 2019

A world premiere of original compositions for indigenous breath, string
and percussion instruments and western orchestral percussion.


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

His fascination with rhythm and the color of sound allows him
to be a group member and frequent collaborator/composer with
various critically acclaimed classical, jazz, rock, and world music
ensembles with whom he continues to concertize with performances in:
Australia, Austria, Belgium, Bosnia, Brazil, Canada, Costa Rica, Croatia,
the Czech Republic, Denmark, England, France, Germany, Holland, Hungary,
Italy, Korea, Macedonia, Mexico, Norway, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Switzerland,
the United States and Wales, over 1200 performances on 5 continents.
​

Garcia continues to live and breathe music every moment of his LIFE
with over 1200 performances in 28 countries on 5 continents
performing his music with a myriad of very different musical artists
who invite him to either compose, improvise or MAKE MUSIC with them

QUARTETO NUEVO went from an ever-growing musical ensemble
and turned into a shadow of what it once was and
Garcia had no interest in continuing within that context

the MUSIC and the INTENTION
which GARCIA created, perpetuated and propagated continues

he is only interested in living breathing music
​and that only happens every day of his LIFE
not only when he has a paid performance.............

GARCIA continue to be invited to
compose/perform/improvise with the following
​MUSICOS y MUSICAS

CLICK ON LINK BELOW
christophergarciamusic.weebly.com/making-music---links-and-more.html

and in a variety of settings
​
CLICK ON LINK BELOW
christophergarciamusic.weebly.com/indigena-projects.html

MUSIC, MUSIC MAKING
and
MUSIC LEARNING
is a way of BEING

not a way to (only)make a buck when you can
take time off from teaching