ABOUT LORENA
Classical, Spanish & Latin Guitarist
Lorena Garay is a multi-award-winning guitarist from Puerto Rico, based in Connecticut, who plays many guitar styles.
Biography
Lorena Garay is a multi-award-winning Puerto Rican guitarist who plays many guitar styles, including classical, Spanish and Latin. She also plays rhythm and percussive guitar. Her many musical influences include Spanish Caribbean, South American, Andean, classical, flamenco, and Latin jazz. Lorena's guitar arrangements and her sweet yet passionate playing style beautifully blend her classical influences with her Latin sound. She performs regularly as a soloist and bandleader of her award-winning ensemble, Surcari.
Lorena earned her Master of Music degree Summa Cum Laude from The Hartt School at the University of Hartford, She holds a Bachelor of Music degree Summa Cum Laude from the Conservatory of Music of Puerto Rico. She also received a Highest Honors Music Diploma from La Escuela de Bellas Artes (School of Fine Arts) in Carolina, Puerto Rico.
Ms. Garay has received many awards, including the Hartt School’s Guitar Department Award, the Conservatory of Music of Puerto Rico’s String Department Gold Medal Award, and the Identidad Latina's Latino de Oro Music Award. In addition, Surcari received the Young Audiences Arts For Learning Connecticut's 2018 Performing Artist of the Year Award.
She has released two albums: La Guitarra de Puerto Rico, a featured album of a Greater Hartford Arts Council's United Arts Gift Giving Campaign; and Surcari, which won third place for Best South and Central American Album at the 2009 Just Plain Folks Independent Music Awards. In addition, Lorena composed, recorded, and produced two 15-track instrumental albums commissioned by the international TV Sports Network ESPN.
Lorena is a very accomplished musician of many facets. She is a guitarist, multi-instrumentalist, composer, arranger, audio engineer, video editor, music producer, and educational and children's performer. Her educational and multicultural performances engage audiences of all ages as they are introduced to irresistible instrumental and vocal music from Latin America. Lorena and her band, Surcari, give multicultural performances throughout New England and the east coast. Surcari is on the Young Audiences Arts for Learning Connecticut roster and the Creative Ground roster, a project of the New England Foundation for the Arts (NEFA).
Lorena has performed at numerous prestigious venues, including Princeton University, Philadelphia Museum of Art, The Bushnell Performing Arts Center, and Instituto de Cultura Puertorriqueña, among many others. At the Whitaker Center for Science and the Arts in Pennsylvania, Lorena was the opening act for renowned guitar duo Strunz and Farah.
She has traveled all along the U.S. east coast and Puerto Rico performing with various musical groups, including her band, Surcari, José González's Criollo Clásico, The Daniel Salazar Ensemble, and Viva Quetzal. Lorena has also performed with various Puerto Rican artists, such as folk singer Roy Brown, rock singer Tito Auger, and concert guitarist Federico Cordero. She has made many television appearances, including "El Show de Analeh," Univision; "Salu2 Nueva Inglaterra," Telemundo; "Presencia" & "Making It Here," Public Television for Western New England (a PBS affiliate); and "All Things Connecticut," Connecticut Public Television.
Lorena is currently the Director of Music for Hispanic Ministry at Church of the Good Shepherd in Hartford, CT.
Education
• Master of Music degree Summa Cum Laude, The Hartt School at the University of Hartford
(Guitar Department Award Recipient)
• Bachelor of Music degree Summa Cum Laude, Conservatory of Music of Puerto Rico
(String Department Gold Medal Award Recipient)
• Highest Honors Music Diploma, La Escuela de Bellas Artes (School of Fine Arts), Carolina, Puerto Rico
(Graduated with Highest Honors)
• Certificate in Radio and Television Broadcasting, Connecticut School of Broadcasting (CSB Media Center), Farmington Campus
• Certificate in Motion Graphics, Pratt Institute, New York, NY
(GPA: 4.0)
Training
• Classical guitar with Richard Provost, Leonardo Egúrbida and Héctor Hance
• Flamenco guitar with José R. Ramos and Carlos Revollar
• Jazz guitar with Paul Shumsky and Rich Goldstein
• Cuban tres with Nelson González
• Andean and South American instruments with Eugenio Huanca
Selected Recordings
• Latin Big Beat Sounds, commissioned by the international TV Sports Network ESPN
• Latin Ska Sounds, commissioned by the international TV Sports Network ESPN
• Surcari, Third Place Music Award for Best South and Central American Album, Just Plain Folks Independent Music Awards
• La Guitarra de Puerto Rico, a featured album of the Greater Hartford Arts Council's United Arts Gift Giving Campaign
• New England Landscapes, a compilation album produced by the Connecticut Guitar Society
• The Gift of the Guitar, a compilation album produced by the Connecticut Guitar Society
Honors & Awards
• Performing Artist of The Year Award, Arts For Learning Connecticut
• Latino de Oro Music Award, Identidad Latina Hispanic Newspaper, Hartford, CT
• Third Place Music Award, Best South & Central American Album for Surcari, Just Plain Folks Music Awards• Guitar Department Award, The Hartt School, University of Hartford, West Hartford, CT
• String Department Gold Medal Award, Conservatory of Music of Puerto Rico, San Juan, PR
• Grant Recipient, New England Foundation for the Arts (NEFA)
• Grant Recipient, Hartford Business Development Grants for Artist Program, Hartford, CT
• Grant Recipient, The Irene E. & George A. Davis Foundation, Springfield, MA
• Grant Recipient, Greater Hartford Arts Council, Hartford, CT
• Plaque Recognition, CT Association of Affirmative Action Scholarship Fund
• Medal for Excellence in Musical Performance, Connecticut National Guard
• Merit Tuition Scholarship Recipient, Connecticut School of Broadcasting, Farmington Campus
• Merit Tuition Scholarship & Teaching Fellowship Recipient, The Hartt School, University of Hartford
• Scholarship Award Recipient, Robert I. Ferdman, Pro Arte Musical, San Juan, PR
• Scholarship Award Recipient, Corporación de las Artes Musicales, San Juan, PR
• Pi Kappa Lambda, National Music Honor Society
• National Dean's List, Biography Published in Various Annual Editions