Thibaut Garcia, Guitar at Heart

From his earliest days, Thibaut Garcia grew up with a guitar. Born to a Spanish father and a Vendean mother, he was raised in a home in Toulouse where “Spain’s national instrument” was a constant presence. His father was well-versed in the classical guitar repertoire and would play it during his downtime and at parties, when he wasn’t cooking paella or tapas.

“My first encounter with music came through the works of Fernando Sar, Isaac Albeniz, and Francisco Tàrrega rather than through Beethoven, Brahms, and Chopin,” reveals the man who, at nearly 30 years old, has become a leading figure in classical guitar. So much so that Bruno Monsaingeon—the renowned music documentary filmmaker behind seminal films on Yehudi Menuhin and Glenn Gould—has chosen to dedicate his latest work, currently streaming on medici, to the young performer.

Thibaut Garcia began playing the guitar regularly at home when he was six and a half years old. At age eight, his parents enrolled him at the Toulouse Conservatoire. As a teenager, he was deeply moved while attending a performance of St Matthew’s Passion at the Halle aux Grains, the home venue of the Orchestre National du Capitole de Toulouse. “This was my first concert experience and it left a lasting impression on me. Bach is indispensable—he has never stopped accompanying me in life and in my career,” he explains, still affected by this memory. One of the most beautiful moments in Bruno Monsaingeon’s documentary is when Garcia performs the Goldberg Variations with his collaborator Antoine Morinière before the monks of Solesmes Abbey, in an atmosphere filled with serenity and spirituality. The composition was transcribed and arranged for his latest magnificent duo album.

Among the teachers who guided the “guitar geek”—as he likes to describe himself—in pursuing his passion to the fullest is Marc Navarro. Garcia is grateful to Navarro for helping him delve deeper into the repertoire during his studies at the Toulouse Conservatoire, stating simply, “he shaped me.” Under the tutelage of Paul Ferret, a musician equally gifted in jazz and classical music, Thibaut earnt his diploma and crossed “that pivotal period when you have to choose: either I settle down, or I take flight.” During a music workshop, he was told about the Conservatoire de Paris. He was 14 years old, a restless student with a lackluster academic record: “I was bored back then, I was becoming a sad child.” The solution presented itself when his father learned—from a patient at his physical therapy practice—about specialized classes designed to prepare students for admission to the Conservatoire de Paris.

From then on, all his efforts were focussed on this goal. “Between the ages of 14 and 18 was the time when I made the most progress in my life,” the performer confides, as he was able to confirm while watching his parents’ footage of rehearsals with Bruno Monsaingeon for the documentary. He passed the entrance exam at age 16 and entered the Parisian institution at 17. Two teachers left a particularly deep impression on him: Olivier Chassain, alongside the invaluable advice of Judicaël Perroy. “They opened my eyes to all the instrument’s possibilities and introduced me to the great masters of the past,” he emphasizes. They also nurtured in him a passion for the instrument itself.

You have to hear the emotion in his voice when he speaks about the guitar that luthier Paulino Bernabe built him for the 2015 Seville competition. Recently, the virtuoso acquired a 1904 Enrique Garcia guitar, “an absolute gem: when you play it, you feel as though you’re stepping back into the musical world of the early 20th century.” But for Thibaut Garcia, this exploration of the past goes hand in hand with a desire to break new ground with the instrument. “I dream of making a guitar,” he shares. “I’m currently working with a luthier on a prototype, adding an extra string.”

Bruno Monsaingeon allowed Garcia to be filmed doing a few dance steps with his guitar and his partner, choreographer Aure Wacher—a truly symbolic moment! It’s an art form he’s been nurturing since his conservatoire days, as his roommate was a dancer. In fact, when asked about other genres of music he enjoys, Thibaut immediately cites flamenco, both because of its obvious connection to his roots, but also because of the link it creates between the guitar and dance. The musician is determined to continue this experimental dialogue between the two arts, hinting—somewhat mysteriously—at a “monumental” project coming soon. 

How does he cope with the demands of being the highly sought-after concert performer he has become in such a short time? “I love touring,” he explains. “These encounters with different audiences are always a ‘win-win’: the pleasure they derive from it reinforces our own.” On stage, he recalls twice experiencing rare moments of grace—those fleeting, transcendent instances that transport a musician to another dimension. During one of those performances, his parents were in the audience at the Abbey School in Sorèze, in the Tarn region, and he was playing Albeniz’s Asturias: “I felt an incredible ease in my playing, a sensation of warmth throughout my body, and the light seemed to be at its brightest.” As a fan of team sports, Thibaut Garcia borrows a term from them to describe this very special state: the flow. 

To give himself the chance to fully pursue the career that brings him such fulfillment—despite its more routine aspects, which can sometimes lead to severe exhaustion—the guitarist had to compete in one contest after another during his younger years. In 2013 and 2014, he competed in Seville and Alicante, before triumphing in 2015 at the most prestigious competition of them all: the GFA (Guitar Foundation of America) in Oklahoma City. The prize included recording an album with Warner Classics and a world tour of around 50 concerts, concluding at Carnegie Hall in New York. It was a memorable evening, culminating in the young man’s challenging transcription of the Toccata from Bach’s Partita No. 6 for harpsichord. 

This demanding competition opened the doors to the most prestigious concert halls, but Thibaut Garcia remembers it as a time of immense pressure, which sometimes caused him to lose focus while playing: “In Oklahoma City, I walked off-stage disappointed with my performance, even though I had won!” As he approaches his thirtieth birthday, with his talents now established, he feels a natural desire to broaden his repertoire, to “put himself out there.” As a concert artist, he seeks to move beyond programs that consist mainly of “stringing together pieces we like.” For example, he enjoys alternating a Baroque first half with a second half devoted to Albeniz. During the upcoming summer festivals, audiences will be able to hear Thibaut Garcia in eight different settings: solo, duo, chamber music, and various orchestral arrangements, including a double concerto for guitar and bandoneon that he performed in South America.

Garcia also wishes to go beyond performance, taking a keen interest in staging: “I pay close attention to the dramaturgy and lighting of these concerts,” he notes. An arranger since the age of 16—whether working on Bach’s suites or, more recently, pieces by Marin Marais—the performer is increasingly venturing into improvisation and composition. His fondness for period instruments is also a way of trying to understand how the great performers of the past mastered them. “I’ve gotten into the habit of practising certain pieces in the style of the predecessors I admire: Ida Presti, Julian Bream, John Williams, and André Segovia.” To unwind, he even tried his hand at composing a song for Barbara Pavie. But above all, he aspires to compose a true contemporary piece for classical guitar. 

In everything he does, Thibaut Garcia moves in the same direction towards the same goal: “transforming something raw into something crafted.” In his rare moments of relaxation, this draws him to his father’s favorite pastime: cooking. Yet his signature creation strays far from his Spanish roots, as he turns instead to the Paris-Brest dessert.

Translation: Nadya Miryanova