Latino Leaders . . . by Vanessa Soto: Music is a big part of Gavilan teacher’s life, but flamenco is his passion

While living in Spain, Albert Marqués studied under one of the best flamenco players

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By Vanessa Soto

Albert Marqués truly loves flamenco.

His passion has been passed down from generation to generation in his family. The Gavilan College Spanish instructor carries the heritage in playing this vibrant style of guitar music since childhood.

Marqués performs flamenco throughout California in cities including San Jose, San Francisco, and San Diego. He also shares his musical talent in the South Valley at concerts at the Gavilan Theater and other venues.

“I play a flamenco guitar and I also play the electric guitar. But flamenco is kind of like a specialized genre of music,” he said. “People around here, in Gilroy and Morgan Hill, they love it for, like, 10 to 15 minutes — and then they’ve had enough. So, most of the gigs that I do are outside of Gilroy.”

When Marqués performs, it’s usually at concerts at indoors venues where people sit-down and enjoy the artistry of the music.

“In one of my last gigs I played at Guitaraganza at Stanislaus State University,” he said. “It is a big guitar festival and they bring people from all over the world.”

Last year Marqués played at a prestigious concert at the Center for Performing Arts in San Jose.

“We shared the stage with a bunch of people. It was a sold-out event and that was fun.”

Marqués also performs at fundraiser concerts to give back to the community. For example, he played last year at several concerts to raise money for the victims of the 2019 Gilroy Garlic Festival shooting.

Marqués was born in Mountain View in 1967 to Larry and Martha Marqués. His family moved to the city of Santa Clara and lived there until he was about seven, the age when he received his first guitar. His grandparents had moved to Gilroy and his parents followed. He attended El Roble Elementary School, then went to Saint Mary School from sixth through eighth grade. Following that, he studied at Palma High School, a Catholic private school in Salinas. After graduation, he spent two years as a Gavilan student.

“I played in bands the whole time,” Marqués said of his growing up years. “I met Sam Sotelo who teaches music at Gavilan. We started a band, a really cool band.”

In 1988, Marqués and his family moved to Spain. He began his studies of the Spanish language for foreigners program at the University of Barcelona. Experiencing the culture inspired him to appreciate the land of his father’s heritage.

“Although my dad is Spanish and my mom is from Mexico, my Spanish was really bad. I spoke like the pocho (a Mexican-American who speaks little or no Spanish) type,” Marqués admitted.

While in Barcelona he studied with Juan Gorjón, one of Spain’s best flamenco guitar players. Marqués’s passion for the guitar inspired him to practice an average of eight to 12 hours a day.

As an aspiring player, he was also inspired by his father who had enjoyed a career as a flamenco musician who had performed on the “American Bandstand” TV show and also had signed contracts with major record companies.

“He always told me if music does not work out you should have a backup plan,” Marqués said.

When he returned to the U.S., he decided to become a Spanish language teacher. He enrolled at California State University, Fresno for his masters degree in linguistics and continued playing, winning several major guitar competitions. One day he noticed his pinkie finger on his left hand felt numb. A doctor told him he had nerve damage. The news devastated him.

“I had to quit playing,” he said. “I had two surgeries.”

For about six to eight years Marqués did not play the guitar. One day, Chris Herrera, a former Gavilan student, asked him to teach him how to play the guitar. Marques realized his hand did not hurt anymore and he started playing guitar again.

Marqués helps organize and performs in the annual Bach to Blues music concert featuring Gavilan faculty. It serves as a fundraiser for the music department. It’s usually held in the theater but this year will be a May 7 streaming event because of COVID-19.

“It’s a very unique event where he showcases various forms of music from blues to jazz,” said Eddie Diaz, the artistic director for the Flamenco Society in San Jose. “He usually covers the flamenco part. He performs solo, sometimes performing with his father or other flamenco guitarists or artists.”

Marqués also enjoys performing in restaurants around the Bay Area, Diaz said.

“He’s a very good guitarist,” he said. “He has an exceptionally good ear for music and understands music very well.”

A fellow Spanish instructor at Gavilan, David Perez said he and Marques are co-partners in everything they do. In 2010 Gavilan cancelled the Fenix Language Institute program Perez ran to take students to study abroad in Zacatecas, Mexico. A new program started by the two men took students to Seville, Spain. Marqués and Perez encourage students to study abroad to develop their appreciation for the Spanish and Mexican cultures.

“It’s been amazing,” Perez said. “When I used to run the program to Mexico, we had a lot of students who would connect very well with the families and they would stay extra time on their own there.”

In 1997, Marqués married Maria Amirkhanian, a music instructor at Gavilan and a professional concert pianist. They have twin girls named Jade and Dominique who are now 18 and high school seniors.

“Jade did a little bit of flamenco dancing. She was actually pretty good at it,” Marqués said proudly. “Then, that went away. Dominique discovered sports, so she’s a big-time soccer player. But she also plays the ukulele extremely well.”

The couple are now divorced.

During the COVID-19 crisis, Marqués continues studying to improve his musical talent. He has been taking guitar lessons from a master guitarist in Spain online for the past six months.

“I have a lot of new material. My goals are to get out there and share it,” he said. “I have a lot of concerts lined up as soon as we can get through COVID.”  He also sees a music album in his near future.

“I’ve been saying that for 20 years, but I think it is probably finally time,” he said.

 

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Vanessa Soto is the writer of the Latino Leaders column. She is a Gilroy resident

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