In 2009, his senior year in high school, Rafael won the All-State Jazz Guitar Title in the state of Texas. He was also selected as The Four States Jazz Guitarist in The Four States Jazz Band, which was comprised of students from Texas, Oklahoma, Arkansas, and Louisiana. At this event, he performed with Grammy Award Winner/Rock and Hall of Famer, Tom “Bones” Malone of Blues Brothers Fame and who now plays in the CBS Orchestra on The Late Show With David Letterman. After graduating high school in 2009, Rafael attended Tyler Junior College in Tyler, Texas, where he studied Classical Guitar with Franklin Kimlicko who is from the classical guitar lineage of Francisco Tarrega, Daniel Fortea, Celedonio Romero and Pepe Romero. While at TJC, Rafael played guitar in the Top Jazz Ensemble, The Classical Guitar Ensemble, and played guitar in the front ensemble of The TJC Apache Marching Band. Rafael graduated Tyler Junior College in May of 2011 after receiving his Associates Degree in Music Performance.
Rafael is now a scholarship student at the Berklee College of Music in Boston, Massachusetts. Rafael began attending Berklee in the Fall of 2011 and spent the summer prior to his big move to Boston, MA playing several venues with his band and had the opportunity to perform with Grammy Award Winner/Rock and Roll Hall of Famer Jim Fielder. Rafael also performed at another venue with The Famous Boogie Woogie Pianist Omar Shariff in Marshall, TX, The Birthplace of The Boogie Woogie.
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