Staff Sergeant Andrew Garcia joined the West Point Band as principal trumpet in December 2010. He received his Bachelor of Music and Master of Music in trumpet performance from the Manhattan School of Music, where he studied with Thomas Smith and Mark Gould. While a student at the Manhattan School, Staff Sgt. Garcia traveled extensively throughout the world. He has played in over a dozen countries and in many differing capacities, including serving as the principal trumpet of the Nice Festival Orchestra in Nice, France, and performing as a featured soloist in the Royal Albert Hall in London. He has also played in various ensembles in the New York area, including the New York City Ballet, the New York Staff Band of the Salvation Army, and the New York Philharmonic.
In addition to performing, Staff Sgt. Garcia is an avid educator. He has taught around the globe in such countries as Bolivia, Chile, India, Oman, and many others. In 2005, he founded the Manhattan Citadel Music School in Harlem, which provides a free, comprehensive musical education to twenty-five children from around the community. The music school and its students have received numerous awards in musical excellence throughout the New York area. The school has been featured in the New York Times, and its students have gone on to matriculate into several performing arts schools for further musical study.
