TRUMPET Awards Previous Recipients

LEO GARCIA
2010 Recipient
 

Leo  Garcia is a multi-talented award-winning playwright, actor, filmmaker,  producer, teacher, and activist and has served as Highways Performance  Space's Artistic Director since 2003 where he has developed and  presented over 500 performance works.  He received his Bachelor of Fine  Arts degree from Virginia Commonwealth University followed by a yearlong  apprenticeship at Actor’s Theatre of Louisville. He received his Master  of Fine Arts degree from the Asolo Conservatory in Sarasota, Florida.

As  a playwright, Garcia has chronicled his family’s genealogy,  ten-generations of New Mexican family history, in his cycle of plays  entitled The Abduction of Hernan Cortes: The New Mexico Cycle. The cycle  explores the themes of abduction: of land, of self, and of alien  abduction, and follows the lives of five New Mexican families from 1598  to present. Garcia’s plays have won awards from The National Endowment  for the Arts, Theatre Communications Group, New York Foundation for the  Arts, Mark Taper Forum, South Coast Repertory, The National Hispanic  Media Coalition, and MCA/Universal. His works have been presented by  numerous nationally-established companies and presenters, including New  York's Theater for the New City, The New York Shakespeare Public  Festival, The Jewish Repertory Theatre, International Arts Relations  Theatre (INTAR), The Los Angeles Theater Center, The South Coast  Repertory Theatre, The Tiffany Theatre, and Santa Fe Stages, among many  others.

As  a young person, Garcia was influenced by the presentational, didactic,  agitprop plays he discovered in a little red book of “actos” by El  Teatro Campesino and was inspired by the hopes and optimism he witnessed  in Shirley Temple films. He was often at odds with the extremes of his  interest.  On one hand, he sought to dramatize the sociopolitical,  material, and cultural issues of the exploited, and on the other hand,  he hoped to sing and tap his way to Hollywood stardom. Garcia began his  social activism at age sixteen, when his father sent him to work as an  apprentice recruiter for a federal program funded by the Office of  Economic Opportunity. Garcia’s job was to assist in the recruitment of  high school aged children of agricultural workers from the rural  communities of Colorado and to orient them to the real possibilities of  achieving higher education.  Garcia continued his community service  through his high school and early undergraduate years and came to  believe that the spirit of service is not only an asset, but also a  requirement.  Though inclined to pursue a career in the social sciences,  Garcia never forgot the impact that the works of El Teatro Campesino  had on him nor did he forget his joy in the magic of Hollywood. As  Garcia navigated through college, he pursued the theatre as a way of  having it all, a form of a political and social education, he thought,  as well as a theatrical one.  This mix of influences created a  syncretism that satisfied his needs.

After  receiving his MFA, Garcia moved to New York City where he worked as an  actor and playwright. His thesis project, a play about the relationship  between Nathan Leopold and Richard Loeb and their psychological crime  was optioned for a workshop at the Jewish Repertory Theatre in New York  City.  That same play was submitted to internationally acclaimed  playwright and director Maria Irene Fornes for consideration as  playwright in residence at the International Arts Relations Theatre  (INTAR), where Garcia served five residencies under the direction of Ms.  Fornes.  Garcia worked for many years with his mentor Ms. Fornes, as  writer and actor and has been directed by her in her plays in New York,  Los Angeles and Siena, Italy at the Dionysia World Festival. Fornes also  directed Garcia's play, "Dogs," at West Coast Ensemble Theater in Los  Angeles.   While in New York, Garcia also pursued his career as an  actor.  He has appeared in over 30 off-Broadway and regional theatre  productions. While in New York, Garcia also hosted the Emmy nominated  NBC Special, Another American.

Garcia’s  television work brought him to Los Angeles, where he guest starred in  episodic television and was a regular on a daytime drama series.  As a  filmmaker, his film, "A Rainy Day," was distributed by Universal  Television and was shown in festivals nationally and internationally.  While in Los Angeles, he served as an artist, teacher, director and  producer for numerous productions and classes at Highways Performance  Space; resident playwright with the Mark Taper Forum's Latino Theatre  Initiative; and project artistic director and playwright with the  community-based San Diego Playwrights Project.  Garcia has also been a  fixture on the Los Angeles alternative performing arts scene for many  years, one of a handful of artists who represent a fully developed,  professional approach to multidisciplinary work. Out Magazine recognized  Garcia as one of the OUT 100 of 2005, a list of the year's most  interesting, influential, and newsworthy LGBT people as a result of his  many contributions to the arts as well as his indefatigable activism on  behalf of alternative artists and the alternative arts community through  the support and presentation of their performance works and in service  to the community at large. The HARC Foundation considers it a great  privilege to recognize and honor Leo Garcia for his unique and  extraordinary contributions to the Arts and to humanity.

RUSS FREEMAN
2000 Recipient
 

A native of  Nashville who came to Los Angeles at 18 to study music at Cal Arts and  later at UCLA, Russ Freeman and the Rippingtons have helped define and  redefine the musical standards in “smooth jazz”. Russ’ first solo album,  Nocturnal Playground (1985), Jazziz Magazine declared a “masterpiece”  and the most influential contemporary jazz recording of all time.

In  January 2000 at the Oasis Smooth Jazz Awards in Dallas, Russ joined Bob  James and Herb Alpert as a recipient of the Lifetime Achievement Award.  A true icon of the genre, Freeman as leader, songwriter and producer of  The Rippingtons has given smooth Jazz some of its most classic melodies  and an amazing catalog of #1 Contemporary Jazz chart hits. While the  Rippingtons continue to be one of smooth Jazz’s most commercially  successful bands, Freeman continues pushing the stylistic envelope to  new and dynamic limits each time out – allowing his audience to partake  in and share his passions along the way. 

When  asked to explain his musical development and continuing success, Russ  had this to say: “I strive to keep growing and searching for ideas to  inspire me. I never want to repeat myself, but rather than come up with  some master plan, it’s easier to not steer the boat for a while and let  things just happen…”

Russ  Freeman and the Rippingtons have long understood how the arts, and in  their case their music, can inspire audiences and, specifically, can  powerfully impact physically and psychologically disabled young people.  It began with a series of fan letters explaining how individuals in  their families were being helped by The Rippingtons’ music.

Through  a connection with the National Association for Music Therapy, Russ has  formalized his efforts with a continuing series of Clinic programs  whenever the Rippington schedule permits. When asked to explain why they  do these voluntary clinics, Freeman said: “The whole thing started the  time of cop killer rap lyrics and I remember being so glad that I wasn’t  involved with music on that kind of level. And it suddenly dawned on  me…that the reason we were doing the clinics was to use what we do to  help heal, not to hurt. And because the kind of communication we can  help open up in those patients is probably the best thing that music  could ever be used for.”

The  HARC Foundation salutes Russ Freeman for his recognition of the healing  power of the arts and his efforts with the Rippingtons to share that  power for children in need everywhere.