It is with great sadness that I learned this evening that my friend
Julius Carrasco died on March 15th. His daughters emailed me asking for photographs of Julius that are on this blog and of course I was glad to be able to send them to them. Julius was a fantastic classical and Flamenco guitarist, he was highly educated and could play anything. I was always impressed not only by his talent but with his dedication, perseverance and endurance in the weddings we did together the past few years.
From his biography:
Julius Carrasco, classical and flamenco guitar: Julius began playing guitar at three years old. He entertained family and friends while growing up and was largely self-taught. A music professional, he received a degree in music from the University of Missouri at Kansas City, where he attended master classes taught by legendary Spanish guitarist Narciso Yepes. He also learned flamenco music technique from nuevo flamenco artist Gerardo Nunez.
This is Julius' band, Los Tres Caballeros, playing for the reception of Jon and Deneen's wedding at The Pavilions at Angus Barn.
Julius always dressed the part when he played for weddings. He played for Deneen and John's wedding ceremony out on the terrace.
I could always count on Julius to play for a wedding on short notice. This was a quickly arranged wedding ceremony at Page Walker Arts Center and it was dark by the time the wedding started. This was not a problem for Julius who could play beautifully in the dark! This wedding was on October 30, 2010, the last time I saw Julius.
At Anderson Point Park in Raleigh there is no power source at the amphitheater. So, I brought my battery to this wedding to power his sound system and I plugged my wireless microphone into his system for amplification of my voice. We had it all worked out.
This wedding was at the Second Empire. Julius is up on the porch all set up and again I plugged into his sound system.
I will truly miss Julius, my friend, who enriched not only my life but the lives of all he played for! He will always be in my heart and in the hearts of his loved ones.
To live in hearts we leave behind
Is not to die.
~Thomas Campbell
3 comments:
Very nice tribute, Kayelily.
Thanks, Barbara. I was so saddened to hear of Julius' passing. It really touched me, especially since my mother is in the process of transitioning to another realm as well right now. I sort of suspected something when I did not hear from him at all last year and would think of him from time to time and think about contacting him but never remembered to do so. He was a lot of fun and so talented. I will miss him.
Here is Julius' obituary:
Julius Neri Carrasco died on March 15, 2012, at Duke University Hospital in Durham, NC, at the age of 67.
An accomplished professional classical and flamenco guitarist, Julius learned music at a very young age and forged a career that allowed him to play across the U.S. and overseas. In his later years, he focused on playing in the Triangle, performing regularly for weddings, restaurants, festivals, schools and retirement communities, alone or with his groups, Latin Sounds and Los Tres Caballeros. He was an extremely dedicated, lifelong learner whose other career paths included working at UNC Hospital and Lenoir Memorial Hospital as a respiratory therapist. In his spare time, he loved spending time at the beach, traveling to new places and reading non-fiction.
Besides music, Julius's great love was for his family. He is survived by his wife of 42 years, son, and two daughters, son-in-law and granddaughter.
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