"On the morning of March 31, 2019, as if it were a macabre joke, I was told that the brilliant composer Tony Osborne had passed away. That weekend we were celebrating the Galicia Graves Festival in Culleredo (Spain) and both I and all the teachers were very shocked by the sad news...A couple of days later I sat down at my piano to write a new piece commissioned by Dan Styffe (double bass) and Zsuzsa Balint (piano), a new work that they would premiere at the 2019 ISB Convention at Bloomington University (USA). Each sound I played I couldn´t think of anything except Tony´s death, so I asked Dan if I could write a piece dedicated to Tony and, of course, Dan agreed. The piece is a sad work with dissonances in the accompaniment which show the pain and with strong harmonies contrasting a lyrical and friendly melody.

I wrote this piece as one last conversation with Tony, both with sadness and friendship at the same time as I saying him: "Man ... how do you think of leaving like this, without even saying goodbye ...". This is the atmosphere I tried to create." [Simon Garcia]

A Broken Heart was premiered by Dan Styffe (double bass) and Zsuzsa Balint (piano) on 6 June 2019 at Indiana University (Bloomington, USA).

Bassist and composer Simon Garcia was born in Mugardos (Spain) in 1977 and graduated in double bass from the Conservatorio Superior of Salamanca. He has worked as a double bassist in the Royal Orchestra of Galicia, having also performed in many orchestras throughout Spain, and is the bassist in the Symphony Wind Orchestra of A. Coruna. He has collaborated with many musicians and ensembles, particularly in the field of contemporary music, and has recorded and performed on many commercial recordings and for television and radio broadcasts.

Simon Garcia has composed more than thirty works for double bass, ranging from two to six players, alongside transcriptions of these pieces for various chamber ensembles. His music has been performed in Mexico, Venezuela, Uruguay, Denmark, Spain, Japan, Italy, Austria, Germany, Canada, USA and UK by The Bass Gang, Bass Instinct and Il Quint-etto amongst others, and some of his music was used as teaching material in the 2011 ISB Year of Collaborative Music.

Simon Garcia's music is lively, jazzy and rhythmic with great forward momentum and drive. Accessible for players and audiences alike, he writes colourful music of distinction and energy, employing the entire range of the double bass.