Already Getting Started
The senior recital is twelve works. Six classical pieces, jazz, samba, folk duets, a little bluegrass. Three guitars, a trumpet, some singing. It's a portrait of someone who came to his instrument from myriad directions — and who has used his talent and time at UCLA to bring others in.
Johnny Bhaskar grew up in San Francisco, his father a UCLA alum, and originally enrolled as an Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences major. He'd played guitar his whole life, but casually, nothing serious, a fair amount of Sublime covers. His first two years at UCLA, he fell in with five jazz majors whose conviction and style he admired. Inspired, he applied to The Herb Alpert School of Music the following summer, after strumming classical guitar in the practice rooms at every opportunity. He was admitted junior year, started over as a first-year student in the Music Education program and graduates with a double major in disparate disciplines.
He's been teaching music as much as possible, most recently at St. Alphonsus, a Catholic school in Monterey Park, even a little choir instruction at the YMCA in Santa Monica. After graduation, he's heading back to the Bay Area to get his teaching credential at San Francisco State. The idea is to create a schedule that makes enough room for everything — from teaching to arranging and practicing, plus weekends for gigs.
"I feel like I'm just getting started," he said.
One of the classical pieces in his recital is a Chopin arrangement by Francisco Tárrega, the first piece he auditioned with. Another is the "Cinema Paradiso" soundtrack, which he found through a Pat Metheny recording he listened to obsessively the summer he decided music was the thing. Bhashkar's tastes range broadly, something he's hoping to inspire in the next generation.
Meanwhile, he'll remember late nights in the practice rooms and the serenity of biking home after the building closes.
"My heart is just so full," he said.
