Praised for his “elegant and expressive” conducting, Eric Garcia is Music Director of the Boise Philharmonic and Artistic Director and Conductor of the McCall MusicFest (ID). Garcia previously served as Assistant Conductor of the Seattle Symphony, conducting subscription, education, pops, and community concerts. In addition, he served as producer for recordings on the Naxos label.
Garcia has served as guest conductor with the Rockford Symphony Orchestra, Symphony New Hampshire, Oklahoma City Ballet, Oklahoma City Philharmonic, Octava Chamber Orchestra, Orchestra Seattle, Philharmonia Northwest, Rainier Symphony, Northwest Festival Orchestra, Greensboro Ballet, Elmhurst Symphony Orchestra, and Seattle Chamber Singers, among others. In addition, he has served as cover conductor of the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra.
An avid supporter of contemporary music, Garcia has collaborated with such esteemed composers as John Adams, Sergio Assad, Jimmy López Bellido, Ryan Carter, Paul Chihara, George Crumb, Frank Ferko, Vijay Iyer, David Lang, Lowell Lieberman, Nico Muhly, Eric Nathan, Sean Shepherd, and Jay Alan Yim, among others. In addition, Garcia has served as principal conductor at the Cortona Sessions for New Music in Cortona, Italy.
A champion of music education, Garcia has served as Associate Conductor of the Eastern Music Festival and faculty of the Eastern Music Festival Conducting Institute. He has served as Conductor and Professor of Orchestral Conducting at the Greenwood School of Music at Oklahoma State University and the Wanda L. Bass School of Music at Oklahoma City University. In addition, he has served as a clinician for high school orchestras throughout the country.
Garcia was a member of the American Academy of Conducting at the Aspen Music Festival and School. Conducting teachers include Marin Alsop, Gustav Meier, Larry Rachleff, Murry Sidlin, Leonard Slatkin, and David Zinman. Garcia received a Doctorate of Music and Master of Music in Orchestral Conducting from Northwestern University under the tutelage of Victor Yampolsky. He received a Bachelor of Music Theory from the University of Texas at Austin.
Garcia hosts a radio show and podcast entitled Noted, designed for the seasoned or casual listener of classical music. Eric, his wife Sarah, and their dogs Eddie and Hazel reside in Seattle, Washington.