CVHS alumni wows crowd with opera

An emerging star was born as Ricardo Garcia took to the stage for his first solo recital. The 2010 CVHS graduate, now attending the University of the Pacific, gave three performances at the California Conservatory Theater in San Leandro recently.

The tenor sang an assortment of songs from Broadway to the opera, from Tosti’s “MareChiare” to West Side Story’s “Maria, Maria.” My personal favorites were “Close Every Door” from the musical Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat and “Besame Mucho” by Consuelo Velasquez. Garcia sang those particular songs with great emotion and his voice sounded excellent.

It was obvious that Garcia was nervous, but he handled himself well and sang with enthusiasm, acting out and bowing at the conclusion of each song. During the question and answer session, I discovered that he was planning on pursuing a career in opera and that he plans to go to Juilliard or USC after graduating from the University of Pacific to later perform on stage.

Garcia kindly allowed me to interview him after the recital and he answered all my questions with a smile. At first I had thought that the “charismatic tenor” wouldn’t be as friendly as the advertisement had claimed, but he turned out to be quite polite and friendly.

His advice to aspiring singers?

“You have to enjoy what you’re doing and you have to be diligent. There are no short cuts,” said Garcia.

I left the theater knowing that someday I would see Garcia perform again. He is extremely talented and is on his way to becoming a star in the musical world. I have no doubts that he will someday be singing Verdi and Wagner in the San Francisco Opera House.