The MIT Symphony Orchestra under the direction of Adam K. Boyles will perform a program featuring Beethoven's Leonore Overture; Stravinsky's Suite from The Firebird (1919); and Gershwin's Rhapsody in Blue with pianist Dario Garcia-Dominguez (MIT class of 2015) as soloist.
About Dario Garcia-Dominguez
Dario Garcia-Dominguez '15, majored in both Music and Brain and Cognitive Sciences at MIT. From the age of 6, he studied piano at the preparatory division of the San Francisco Conservatory of Music where he was a student of Annamarie McCarthy.
As an undergraduate student in MIT Music and Theater Arts, Dario studied privately with pianist David Deveau, Senior Lecturer in Music and was the recipient of an MIT Emerson Scholarship from 2011-2013. The scholarship awarded Dario, one semester of private study after the successful completion of a first semester of self-funded lessons. From 2013-15 Dario was offered the prestigious Emerson Fellowship which offers, the most advanced student performers at MIT, full, two-semester scholarships to study privately with master musicians in the Boston area.
In addition to the Emerson awards, Dario was the recipient of a 2012 Ragnar and Margaret Naess Award for an Outstanding Public Performance, a 2015 Chamber Music Performance Award, and of the 2015 Gregory Tucker Memorial Prize for Exceptional Ability in Performance.
Why Rhapsody in Blue?
Dario heard Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue for the first time when he watched Disney’s Fantasia 2000 at the age of 6. He had just begun playing the piano and was immediately fascinated by how the music complemented perfectly the vivid colors and epic journeys of the animated New York City characters in the movie.
Through Disney's fantastic multi-sensory film, Dario began to understand the expressive nature of music and the myriad emotions that it elicits. At age 6, he knew he wanted to some day learn and perform Rhapsody in Blue.
Thanks to this opportunity to perform with the MIT Symphony Orchestra, under the direction of Adam K. Boyles, he will make his dream a reality. Dario says he hopes to perform it with the delicacy and skillfulness of the highly accomplished pianist he has become and the heart of the 6 year old who fell in love with the piece.