<body><div><figure><img src="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?type=thumbnail_580x000&amp;url=2ciRgf_0wMoNotS00" alt="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?url=2ciRgf_0wMoNotS00" width="333" height="500" ><figcaption>Adonis Garcia performs on stage with the cello, an instrument he has been playing since childhood. He was selected as the principal cellist in the Springfield Symphony Orchestra through a blind audition in fall 2024. Photo submitted by Adonis Garcia</figcaption></figure>Missouri State sophomore and cello performance major Adonis Garcia recently earned the position of principal cellist in the Springfield Symphony Orchestra.To be a principal player in a professional symphony orchestra is a feat few musicians are able to accomplish, but for Garcia, it is just one part of what has been a long and rewarding musical journey.Originally from Venezuela, Garcia’s mother had him try any activity she could find in an effort to keep him out of the dangers of daily life. After trying both soccer and baseball, he decided sports weren’t for him. Eventually, Garcia’s mother enrolled him in a local music school, and he was immediately enamored with music.“My second week the director saw me and told me that I looked like a cellist and he offered me a cello,” Garcia said. “A couple of days later I had my first class and since then I have never been separated from a cello.”To Garcia, music was something that provided him a great deal of support in trying times. It gave him a medium through which he could grow not just as a student, but as a man as well.“Music made me the person I am today,” Garcia said.But even with the music, family, and friends he enjoyed back home, Garcia said that the immense economic and societal issues facing Venezuela led him to seek a life elsewhere.“There were terrible weeks where food was scarce on our table,” he said. “The lack of food and basic necessities led me to make the decision to leave to look for a better future for myself and my family.” He ended up moving to Bolivia, where he lived alone for seven years. There, Garcia was a member of the Santa Cruz Philharmonic, an ensemble of professional youth musicians. Through this group, he was connected with Amy Muchnick, one of MSU’s viola professors.Muchnick was helping recruit students to the university and saw potential in Garcia. Since he did not have the money to uproot his life and move to the U.S., Muchnick helped Garcia secure the funds needed for him to attend MSU.“Thanks to her, all this is possible. I will always be grateful to have met her and that she is part of my life,” Garcia said.Despite all the challenges life has given Garcia, he has taken it all in stride and said that he believes the difficulties he has faced have been an important part of why he has been able to succeed as a musician and person.Garcia has no plans to slow down any time soon, and said that music is something that will always be a part of him and his journey in life. “My dream is to be old and continue playing my cello,” Garcia said.Subscribe to The Standard's free weekly newsletter here.</div></body>

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“My dream is to be old and continue playing my cello”: MSU student named principal cellist in Springfield Symphony Orchestra

Missouri State sophomore and cello performance major Adonis Garcia recently earned the position of principal cellist in the Springfield Symphony Orchestra. To be a principal player in a professional symphony orchestra is a feat few musicians are able to accomplish, but for Garcia, it is just one part of what has been a long and rewarding musical journey.