Russell & Gina Garcia

Russell Garcia Biography: Russell wrote his auto-biography before he passed away at age 95 in New Zealand, on 20 Nov 2011. Russell was a world renowned composer-arranger-conductor who has written music for over 100 films. He is known for his innovative music score for the film "Time Machine". Garcia is also known in both the TV and recording fields and has composed music for countless TV shows such as, Rawhide, Twilight Zone, Laredo, The Virginian. He has recorded many CDs in his own right, as well as with stars such as, Louis Armstrong, Ella Fitzgerald, Vic Damone, Judy Garland, Oscar Peterson, Julie London, to name a few. Garcia has also written 2 best-selling text books The Professional Arranger-Composer " Book I and Book II, which have been translated into 6 languages. He is known also for his symphonic and classical works which have been performed by the New Zealand Symphony, Munich Symphony, the Vienna Symphony, plus countless Radio Symphony Orchestras throughout Europe. He was often a guest lecturer at many universities around the world on Symphonic Composition Techniques. Russell and his wife Gina made New Zealand their home in 1971 while continuing to work in the Music and Film Industry. He was awarded the Queens Service Medal for his service to music in 2009.

Gina Garcia Biography: Gina is a singer, lyricist and author who has written many scripts for shows she and husband Russell Garcia have produced around the world. She wrote the Libretto for the opera "The Unquenchable Flame" with Russell composing the music. Her book, "The Adventures of Dawn-Breaker", chronicles a six year sailboat journey with Russell, cruising the South Pacific aboard their 41' Trimaran. Together, Gina and Russell have produced CDs such as, "Light Up The World With Love", "Dawn Of A New Day", "Sweet Scented Streams", etc. The Garcias developed a "Life Skills" Course which is an entertaining way to teach virtues to children using songs, raps, stories and games, and is being used in schools in many countries around the world. They have taught their program for some 39 years at schools in New Zealand. In April 2009, Gina was awarded the Queen's Service medal for her service to music.