Native San Diegan Gustavo Romero has earned a worldwide reputation as one of the best concert pianists of this century. We wanted to delve more into his personal thoughts and experiences.
“I’m from Chula Vista. I did my first two years of junior high there and in 1979, when I turned 14, I left to live in New York. I’ve spent more time living in New York,” Romero began.
He got much of his education on the East Coast.
“I did four years of pre-college first,” he said. “Four years of high school, then one year at Columbia University, four years of bachelor’s at Juilliard and two years of master’s. I spent 10 years there! Pre-college was just Saturdays every week for the four years of high school.”
It was a lot of schooling for a youngster.
“Yes, it was, but it was important because it was not a traditional off-to-college-at-18 experience. It was sooner, and I got a head start finding people who were important for all of those elements that are essential once you begin adolescence and start to learn new languages, have new teachers, and you start to develop and understand so much that is just innate,” Romero explained. “It’s very crucial at that transition time to become fully aware and understand what it is you’re dealing with. Once you get to a point when you’re 18 and you go off to college, you’re fully armed to know how to pursue your path.”
When you were a teenager, did you feel you were unusual in any way?
“I had no problem having friends at that age. What is apparent to anybody who’s young, when you start being competitive and start winning prizes, you become surrounded by others who are talented,” he said. “When I went to New York, it was nice to have a lot of attention here. But the ultimate is to go to a place like pre-college at Juilliard and discover there are a lot of people like you. On the one hand, it’s very encouraging, and on the other hand, it’s very motivating. For period of time you think you have a facility, which allows you to get very nice things. Then you realize other people have this facility. The motivation comes in for you to keep your level as high as possible.”
How were you treated in New York?
“I was placed in the highest classes for theory and ear training,” he said. “At the same time, I had to learn different clefs that you don’t use to read music. Suddenly I was faced with the challenge of having to read them. I felt I had to read a language I had never heard! It became a challenge, not to mention studying French! It seemed like Arabic to me because so many vowels are not pronounced. In the end, it was all worthwhile. The intensity you have at that age makes you work hard and things sink in.”
Did your schooling help you later during your concerts?
“Oh, yes! All that paid off,” he said. “It all became very helpful to me four years later when I started playing in Europe. Everything that you do at that point, before the college years, is really important. If you have a clear idea of what you want to do, it’s to great advantage to get as focused on that as soon as you can.”
What is your feeling about La Jolla?
“Of course, I’m very struck by the sheer beauty of this geographical spot in the world,” he said. “So many other people are as well. South Africans flock here because it reminds them of Capetown. You go to Windansea, and all you hear are foreign languages. In addition to that, it’s wonderful that such an intimate community has so much going on culturally. There is the most wonderful collection of information for music and the arts at the Athenaeum that I’ve ever seen in the world.
“I’ve always been very struck not only by La Jolla but also by the city of San Diego itself. Yes, we’ve had problems maintaining an orchestra in the past. We’ve even lost our own classical music station. However, it still remains quite a vibrant place for so much theater and availability of culture. These beautiful coastal places are always going to have that sort of ambiance. You can find this sort of thing in Carmel or in the South of France in Monte Carlo.”
Romero will be playing Sunday, April 13, at 7 p.m. at the La Jolla Presbyterian Church, 7715 Draper Ave. Doors open at 6 p.m. Tickets are not required for this performance. A free-will offering will be taken. For information, call (858) 729-5531.