Albert Marqués was born and raised in California. When he was seven his family moved from Santa Clara to Gilroy, where he attended El Roble and St. Mary's primary schools, followed by Palma High School. After graduating from Palma he started at Gavilan, including Spanish.

In 1988 his family moved to Spain where he attended the University of Barcelona. After returning to the US, Albert went to CSU Fresno to continue his education. In 1996 he received his MA in Spanish with emphasis in Linguistics and he joined the Gavilan faculty the same year.

From the time he received his first guitar at the age of seven, music has been an important part of Albert's life. After getting his first lessons in the classical Flamenco style from his father, his friends introduced him to the electrical guitar, and by the age of twelve he played in his own rock band. But he always returned to the Flamenco style, taking lessons with the legendary Mariano Cordoba in San Francisco, with the world renowned  guitarist Chicuelo while in Spain, and with Juan Serrano at Fresno.

Music was also instrumental when he met Maria Amirkhanian during his final year at Fresno, where Maria was studying piano. They married a year later and are making their home in Gilroy. Maria continued her studies and received her Doctorate as a Concert Pianist from the Moscow Conservatory. She teaches piano at Gavilan as well as giving private lessons, but right now her focus is at home - Albert and Maria are the proud parents of twin girls, Jade and Dominique, born January 2003.

Besides teaching Spanish and playing guitar, Albert also coaches soccer at Gilroy High, and in 2002 he received the Coach of the Year award.

Address of this page is: http://hhh.gavilan.edu/amarques/index.html
Last updated on 01/21/10 .
Send questions or comments to Albert Marqués at
amarques@gavilan.edu