MusicPro Magazine

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Where do you see yourself going from here?
What’s on the horizon for you?

Well, where we go from here really depends on the myriad of possibilities we try to pull in at one time. We are now opening up a new facility. For instance here at VCU music we have a renovated music center [...]

In your current role, what are you looking to improve upon or change?

I’m always looking for the next thing to work on and improve. At home I keep this big marker board or white board that I have divided into two categories, short term goals and long term goals and I encourage my students [...]

What have you learned about the music business that was a surprise?

I think when you get started in the music business everything’s a surprise. I was really fortunate growing up in New Orleans. I mean I was extremely fortunate! I had no idea how fortunate I was until I moved to upstate New York, [...]

What do you look for in a student?
I look for commitment and love. If they really love, really love what they’re doing, it’s not a pipe dream, I would encourage them to follow their dreams. And I look for somebody who’s got motivation because that’s important. I’ve seen a lot of people who don’t have [...]

What led you to where you are today?
When I was a kid, I was really fascinated with the emotional rush of playing music. As a teenager looking for an outlet, I would move from time at the piano, to time at the guitar, to time at the trombone, then I’d go on to write music, [...]

How did you get started?

I got started in music when I was eight or nine. My parents had an upright in the house and encouraged everyone to take piano lessons. For awhile, I was doing some guitar and enjoying that and eventually I started playing some piano reading the guitar symbols on the sheet music [...]

Every so often you meet someone with the perfect blend of book smarts and street smarts. Virginia Commonwealth University’s Antonio Garcia fits that description to a tee. Spending as much time in live venues entertaining audiences as he does enriching young minds in the classroom, Tony brings a wealth of real world street [...]