About Alfredo Marcos
Alfredo Marcos was born in San Jose California and is of Nicaraguan descent. Growing up he was always the only student of Latino heritage in the various piano studios he studied under in the south bay area. Nevertheless, that fact continues to distinguish his performance style up until this day. Fascinated on how music can move people down to their core, at the age of 7 he decided to begin learning the piano. Coming from a family of musicians particularly his grandfather that graduated from the San Francisco Conservatory of Music in the 1950’s, the inclination towards music was inevitable. After 10 years of private lessons, training in classical music, various top talent and certificate of merit awards, at the age of 17 he decided to go in the direction of his true passion. His passion will for always be the Spanish Romantic Ballad. This would include performing compositions primarily from the mid-late 20th century that offered a wonderful fusion of romantic and opera music seldom appreciated by this modern generation. Amongst the well known composers of this genre of music would be Manuel Alejandro, Juan Carlos Calderon, Rudy Perez, Armando Manzanero, Camilo Sesto and Juan Gabriel.
After graduating with a Bachelors Degree in Engineering from San Jose State University, piano remained an integral part of his daily routine. What would he say distinguishes a fine pianist? It would be the ability to make the piano sing. This is achieved by subtle movements of fingers and wrists, along with complex interactions of pedals, which extends the duration of notes and varies their sound. When a fine pianist masters these difficult techniques, a piano can sound like a wind or string instrument, possibly even an orchestra. The piano may even resemble the finest musical instrument of all—the human voice.