Years ago, back in Colón, the ancient village of his roots, Marco Granados stood
in the warm midday sun and played flute as the musical interlude during the bullfights held there. Taught to play
by the local bandleader, he had become a popular entertainer at other area events too, like town fairs and beauty
pageants. Marco was just barely nine-years-old and fast becoming one of Venezuela's greatest gifts to the world.
To listen to his music is to journey through the dappled countrysides, passionate gritty cities and spiritual universes
that are the life of Marco Granados. By the time he reached his teens, Marco was practicing his flute six hours
a day. In his thirteenth summer he tried out for the state concert band, got the job, and was paid a professional
salary. But he was still a schoolboy, so he attended classes all week, took a twelve-hour bus ride each Friday
night to Caracas for his flute lessons, flew home Saturday night to be back in time to play the Sunday evening
concert with the state band and be back at school first thing Monday morning. Flying both ways would have eaten
up all his earnings for the week which Marco needed to pay for lessons.
Marco credits his parents as his greatest influences, next to Pablo Casals. His father, a successful businessman,
had always wanted to be a musician and frequently took Marco and his brother serenading as children. He also passed
along the public speaking skills Marco uses to relate to his audiences during concerts. Marco's mom was his spiritual
guide, introducing him to yoga, reincarnation and metaphysical studies. Every day, in between his hours of flute
training, Marco meditates and practices Hermetic Philosophy, a belief in the syntheses of all major traditional
religions.
When Marco was fourteen, he went to see the Cleveland Orchestra on tour in Caracas. Knowing limited English, Marco
asked one of the musicians to send him brochures about music education in the United States. One month later a
package arrived in the mail with a handful of brochures. He picked one, sent a demo tape and found himself being
offered a scholarship to the Cleveland Orchestra's Summer Youth Program. The program culminated in a final competition
for a prize of private lessons with the late Maurice Sharp, who was at the time, lead flutist for the Cleveland
Orchestra and graduate professor of the Cleveland Institute of Music. Marco won and found himself leaving his native
country to attend boarding school in the United States to further his flute studies.
After high school Marco traveled to New York City to pursue college. During a chance encounter, he performed for
Julius Baker, principal of the New York Philharmonic. That was all it took. The master made an immediate phone
call on behalf of the young prodigy, and Juilliard suddenly boasted the country's hottest international flutist
as their student.
Living in New York City was tough for a musician who was only 16 years-old. In order to afford to come to the big
city, Marco had sold most all of his possessions except for his solid gold flute. He made a living as a subway
musician during the first years, bringing his golden flute's musical sunshine to the underground. Although now
he lives comfortably on Manhattan's upper West Side, Marco never forgets all the people and fellow musicians he
met as a subway artist.
Now, Marco is a much sought after professional performer. He is invited annually to play at all the great concert
halls including Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center and The Haydn Festival. He even soothed the savage beasts in the
Mayor's inner circle when he performed for Placido Domingo at Gracie Mansion.
Marco attended the Julliard School, earned his Bachelor of Music from The Mannes College of Music followed by a
Master of Music Performance from The Manhattan School of Music. In addition to playing flute professionally, he
is a devoted music teacher at The New School in Manhattan. In his free time, he built the computer he uses for
producing and editing his CDs. He also built www.sunflute.com, his website.
Today, Marco's World influenced flute sound, is the marriage of the roots of the music of his early childhood with
his subsequent formal classical training and the results are a gorgeous feast for the ears. Through his flute he
interprets the history of people and tells the stories of his travels. He returns often to South America whose
sun and culture are the worlds when Marco Granados plays.
Jennifer Maguire, NYC 1999
