Guitarist extraordinaire, Edgar Cruz, will perform for the Live on Stage audience at Bryan’s Arts and Education Auditorium on Tuesday evening, January 31, at 7:30 p.m.
Guitarist extraordinaire, Edgar Cruz, will perform in Bryan for WCCCA-Live on Stage on Tuesday, January 31, at 7:30 p.m. in the Arts and Education Auditorium on West High Street. From the amazing rhythms of his Spanish/Mexican heritage to almost any American pop song, Edgar Cruz can do it all. His audiences are immediately entranced at the precision, speed and complexity with which his fingers create symphonic sounds. Edgar Cruz will be the third concert of the 2011-2012 season for those holding Williams County Community Concert memberships. Individual tickets for the January 31 concert will also be available at the door for $25 (adult) and $5 (student). A native of Oklahoma City, Cruz initially learned guitar at the knee of his Mariachi-playing father. As a strolling guitarist, he was prepared to play whatever was requested. He refined his fingering technique at Oklahoma City University where he earned the first bachelor’s degree in performance ever given by the university’s school of music. Cruz offers an incredible repertoire which covers Latin, classical, international, rock, jazz, mariachi, romantic and his own originals. One of the more impressive arrangements is “Bohemian Rhapsody” which includes an a cappella passage, a ballad, an operatic segment and a heavy rock solo. By using the fingers of his right hand independently, he plays multiple parts. He also uses his guitar percussively. Cruz mixes his songs with cheerful banter that keeps the music accessible. The audience is encouraged to participate with hand claps, finger snaps, sing alongs and “Oles”! From the soft shoe of “Puttin’ on the Ritz” to the echoing “Dueling Banjos” or the galloping “William Tell Overture”, Cruz enthralls his listeners.
