(Mateo Garza, Photo courtesy of High Desert Chamber Music)
Measures of Success
After demonstrating talent on the violin at a very young age, Mateo Garza was invited by High Desert Chamber Music’s (HDCM) Executive Director, Isabelle Senger, to join HDCM’s chamber music training program, the Spotlight Chamber Players, when he was only ten years old. Throughout his eight years in this program, he has performed in a string duo, string trio, string quartet and a piano trio. He has also been a member of the Central Oregon Symphony and the Central Oregon Youth Orchestra.
Mateo began his studies under teachers Wilma Hens and Diane Allen. He started private lessons with Senger five years ago, and his star has been on the rise since. Building on his strong foundation, Senger pushed him to more and more challenging skills while guiding him down a similar path to her own. Through HDCM and Senger’s connections in the music industry, Mateo has had the remarkable opportunity of private lessons and master classes with some of our nation’s most prominent violinists, among them LA Philharmonic Concertmaster Martin Chalifour, Midori Goto, Grammy winner James Ehnes, Heiichiro Ohyama, Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra Concertmaster Frank Almond, and most recently with NY Philharmonic Assistant Concertmaster Michelle Kim.
In addition to being a five-time winner of the Sunriver Music Festival Young Artists Scholarship, he has been invited to the Eastern Music Festival in North Carolina for several years on merit scholarships. Last summer, he truly followed in Senger’s footsteps by being named the festival’s Concertmaster while still a teenager.
A senior at Redmond Proficiency Academy, Mateo has spent the last year of violin studies preparing for college auditions. His efforts have paid off with the incredible outcome of acceptance to all eight schools he applied to, including the University of Southern California, Eastman School of Music, New England Conservatory, Indiana University, Oberlin Conservatory, San Francisco Conservatory, University of Oregon and the Mannes School of Music. There is no doubt he will be a strong addition to whichever program he chooses to attend.
Mateo Garza will perform his senior recital at Wille Hall (COCC) on Saturday, May 25 at 6:30pm.