When Washington Garcia arrived as dean of Stetson University’s School of Music in 2021, he came with a rich personal history and an ambitious vision of the school’s future.
Born in Ecuador, Garcia pursued his “American dream” by earning advanced degrees from the Peabody Institute of the Johns Hopkins University and achieving international acclaim as a concert pianist.
His degrees were only two in a list of accomplishments in Garcia’s life. He’s been awarded Ecuador’s equivalent of the U.S. Presidential Medal of Freedom, as well as a $25,000 grant as a Kennedy Center fellow. He was also named an official artist of Steinway & Sons, a prestigious honor conferred upon the world’s greatest pianists.
When Garcia asked Steven Baxter, former dean of the Peabody Conservatory, how he could repay the school’s generosity after receiving a full scholarship, Baxter answered, pay it forward for deserving students in the future. ”Since then that was my mission in life,” Garcia says.
Garcia’s rise to leadership was foretold early in his career. At 37, he became a founding director at the University of Nebraska’s School of Music. In 2021, he became Stetson’s first Latin American dean, committed to paying it forward.
In each student applicant they consider, Garcia and his team see the next generation of world-class musicians. He also sees himself in many of them. Told he was too short and his hands too small to become an acclaimed concert pianist, Garcia now is both a touring pianist and administrator. Balancing his career with family life, the married father of two attends his children’s events “without sacrificing the mission of the school,” a success he attributes to the support of faculty and leadership.
Along with Stetson’s 12 music major programs, those missions include annual instrumental and vocal competitions, which bring thousands of dollars in cash prizes. This summer, the school’s choir did a seven-state U.S. tour; plans are in the works for an international tour for the band.
Students audition annually for Opera Orlando. Last year’s fellows earned practical experience and professional exposure, as well as college credit. In January, Stetson sent the largest number of students in the school’s history to the annual Florida Music Educators Association Conference. Starting this fall, an endowment will pay the registration fees for all music education students who wish to attend.
The annual Stetson in New York Chamber Music and Solo Competition, which he helped create, is a fully funded performance at Carnegie Hall. Last fall, 20 students, including seven soloists and four chamber ensembles, performed to a sold-out audience.
Garcia knows training the next generation of world-class musicians requires instruction from world-class faculty, like those in Stetson’s School of Music. Students also need experience performing in world-class venues. That’s what Garcia wants to bring to Stetson’s School of Music.
His biggest, most-lasting potential mission to date is advancing the decades-aspired project of the school’s Performing Arts Center. Given his track record of realizing ambitious goals, Garcia is committed to making this vision a reality by creating a venue with the finest acoustics of any concert hall of its size in Florida.
The School of Music currently performs in the intimate, historic Lee Chapel on campus. Events such as the highly popular Christmas Candlelight Concerts quickly sell out, with audience members filling the chapel’s wooden pews. A larger facility would better accommodate the growing demand for tickets, allowing more members of the community to attend and experience these performances.
The Performing Arts Center will elevate Stetson’s cultural offerings, attract top faculty and students, and boost regional economic development, with construction planned for the coming years.
“The impact we have on the community is huge,” he says. “This project will strengthen our reputation as a premier, student-centered institution, and take the School of Music’s lasting legacy from a hidden gem to a national treasure.”
STETSON UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF MUSIC
Established in 1936 as Florida’s first collegiate music school, the Stetson University School of Music is regarded as one of the nation’s finest undergraduate-only professional schools of music. Graduates perform at renowned opera houses like the Metropolitan Opera and hold leadership roles in major symphony orchestras and top universities.
Learn more: stetson.edu/music