It was not a love of music but attraction to a girl that made senior Karles McQuade want to start taking violin lessons.
"It sort of worked, and then I got to see her every week because we ended up taking (lessons) from the same teacher," McQuade said. "I would just carpool with her every week. I would watch her lesson and then I would take a lesson."
He's having his senior recital at 6 p.m. Sunday in Keller Hall.
"(The recital) is the equivalent of a thesis in the English Department," he said. "I guess I am the featured performer, and I am going to start by playing a sonata by Mozart."
McQuade grew up in Santa Fe and was involved in the classical music scene.
"I was a founding member of the Santa Fe Youth Symphony," McQuade said. "I was there for seven years, and I did quite a lot there. Since then, I have been involved with them in a lot of different ways. I was a concertmaster. I was a mentor for the little kids, and then I taught some for the school programs."
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McQuade said that after high school, he went to Oberlin College to study physics and take classes at its music conservatory.
"I took music theory there. I took Baroque violin. I took music history," he said. "I took private lessons on modern violin as well, as much as I could."
At Oberlin, he couldn't take lessons on a regular basis, so he continued to take lessons from student teachers and played in groups.
"I'm (at UNM) mostly for the string pedagogy program," he said. "It's one of the only colleges in the country that offers a degree in Suzuki pedagogy."
McQuade said he hopes to attend graduate school for Baroque violin training but that if he doesn't get in he will stay in New Mexico and continue to teach violin.
"I really like to teach. I have 13 private students right now," McQuade said. "As part of the Suzuki program here, they have a lab school so all of us here teach kids here at UNM once a week, and the kids are great and energetic."
McQuade said playing in quartets fills his heart with joy.
"With violin, you spend a lot of time by yourself because you have to practice," he said. "Playing with people helps offset that alone time."
He composed one of the songs for his Sunday performance and said he's excited to showcase his work.
"It is a piano trio for violin, cello and piano," McQuade said. "It took me about two weeks to put together and about six weeks of revision. We just started practicing it this week."
Karles McQuade's senior recital
Sunday, 6 p.m.
Keller Hall
Free
