Antonio Garcia

Antonio J. García is a Professor Emeritus and former Director of Jazz Studies at Virginia Commonwealth University, where he directed the Jazz Orchestra I; instructed Applied Jazz Trombone, Small Jazz Ensemble, Jazz Pedagogy, Music Industry, and various jazz courses; and founded a B.A. Music Business Emphasis (for which he initially served as Coordinator). An alumnus of the Eastman School of Music and of Loyola University of the South, he has received commissions for jazz, symphonic, chamber, film, dance, and solo works from Meet The Composer, The Commission Project, The Thelonious Monk Institute, and regional arts councils; composition/arrangement honors include IAJE (jazz band), ASCAP (orchestral), and Billboard Magazine (pop songwriting). His music has aired over National Public Radio and CBS-TV. His compositions are released through a dozen publishers, his indie-film scores screened across the globe, and a recent commission was performed at Carnegie Hall by the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra.A Conn Selmer clinician, he has freelanced as trombonist, bass trombonist, or pianist with over 70 nationally renowned artists, including Ella Fitzgerald, George Shearing, Mel Tormé, Billy Eckstine, Doc Severinsen, Louie Bellson, Dave Brubeck, and Phil Collins—and has performed at the Montreux, Nice, North Sea, Pori (Finland), New Orleans, and Chicago Jazz Festivals. An avid scat-singer, he has performed vocally with jazz ensembles around the world. He is the only individual to have directed all three genres of Illinois All-State jazz ensembles—combo, vocal jazz choir, and big band (plus All-County and community concert bands and orchestras). He is the recipient of the Illinois Music Educators Association’s 2001 Distinguished Service Award. Tony is the jazz band director for Jazz at the Summit (Colorado). He has produced recordings or broadcasts of such artists as Wynton Marsalis, Gene Bertoncini, Jim Pugh, Dave Taylor, Susannah McCorkle, Sir Roland Hanna, and the JazzTech Big Band.Most of all, Tony is dedicated to assisting musicians towards finding their joy. His 35-year full-time teaching career and countless residencies in schools have touched tens of thousands of students in Canada, Europe, South Africa, Australia, The Middle East, and across the U.S. He served as Faculty Advisor to Down Beat Collegiate Award-winners in Original Composition, Extended Composition, Jazz Arranging, and Studio Recording; plus to an Outstanding Performance recipient, Blues/Pop/Rock Soloist. His collaborations highlighting jazz and social justice have raised hundreds of thousands of dollars, providing education to students and financial support to African American, Latinx, LGBTQ+, and Veterans communities, children’s medical aid, and women in jazz. He serves as a Research Faculty Member at the University of KwaZulu-Natal. His partnerships with South Africa focusing on racism and healing resulted in his performing at the Nelson Mandela National Memorial Service in D.C. in 2013. He also fundraised $5.5 million in external gift pledges for the VCU Jazz Program.Mr. García is the International Trombone Association Journal Past Associate Jazz Editor, IAJE Jazz Education Journal Past Editor, IAJE-IL Past President, past International Co-Chair for Curriculum and for Vocal/Instrumental Integration, and served as Chicago Host Coordinator for the 1997 Conference. He served as a Network Expert (for Improvisation Materials) for the Jazz Education Network, is Secretary of The Midwest Clinic Board and a Past Advisory Board Member of the Brubeck Institute, has served as a National Endowment for the Arts Music application review panelist, and was an Illinois Coalition for Music Education coordinator. His newest book, Jazz Improvisation: Practical Approaches to Grading (Meredith Music), explores avenues for creating structures that correspond to course objectives. His Cutting the Changes: Jazz Improvisation via Key Centers (Kjos Music) offers musicians of all ages the opportunity to improvise over standard tunes using just their major scales. Widely published in more than a dozen education and jazz periodicals, he is Co-Editor and Contributing Author of NAfME’s Teaching Jazz: A Course of Study. García is also the subject of an extensive interview within Bonanza: Insights and Wisdom from Professional Jazz Trombonists (Advance Music), authored a chapter within Rehearsing The Jazz Band and The Jazzer’s Cookbook (Meredith Music), and contributed to Peter Erskine and Dave Black’s The Musician's Lifeline (Alfred). Previous to VCU, he served as Associate Professor and Coordinator of Combos at Northwestern University, where he taught jazz and integrated arts, was Jazz Coordinator for the National High School Music Institute, and for four years directed the Vocal Jazz Ensemble. Formerly the first Coordinator of Jazz Studies at Northern Illinois University, he was selected by students and faculty there as the recipient of a 1992 “Excellence in Undergraduate Teaching” award and nominated as its candidate for 1992 CASE “U.S. Professor of the Year” (one of 434 nominees nationwide). He is recipient of the VCU School of the Arts’ 2015 Faculty Award of Excellence, the 2021 Conn Selmer Institute Hall of Fame Award, and is a 2023 recipient of The Midwest Clinic’s Medal of Honor. He currently resides in his native New Orleans. Visit his web site at www.garciamusic.com.

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