An intimate crowd filed into the UTSA Recital Hall last Thursday for what was a defining moment in Josh Mills’ educational career.

After taking a bow, he propped his guitar on his knee and began his first piece, a classical sonata by Domenico Scarlatti, an eighteenth century composer.

Throughout his performance, Mills kept his face calm and concentrated on his fingers as they moved smoothly between frets.

After playing for a little over half an hour he took his final bow and with a confident step, walked back across the stage. Mills has been studying classical guitar for the past two years here at UTSA but has been playing for over a decade.

“I started in jazz but felt bombarded by all the incongruities of the style” Mills said after his performance. “I just always liked classical.”

Mills, along with every other music major, has to successfully perform a series of recitals throughout his degree plan in order to earn a spot in the senior class. His performance on Thursday was in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Bachelor of Music in Guitar Performance.

Even though he prefers to play classical, jazz music still ranks amongst Mills’ favorite types of music along with metal and rock.Mills is a student of Dr. Mathew Dunne.

He also works as a tutor on the side. Mills hopes to one day have steady work playing in bands performing background gigs and weddings.

“In the end I say screw the paycheck, follow your passion,” says Mills said.

The music department will host student recitals in the Arts Recital Hall throughout the semester.

Upcoming student recitals are Eric Allen on piano on Jan 20 at 5:00 p.m. and a graduate recital at 7:30 p.m. featuring Laura Estrada singing soprano with Anna Hakobyan on piano and Thursday, Jan. 27 at 5:00 p.m. featuring Rachel Skarke singing soprano with Christine Debus on piano.