Friends and family continue to honor the life and legacy of Enric Madriguera MS’84, PhD’93 nearly a year after the death of the longtime University of Texas at Dallas professor.
Richard Kurjan MA’82, a 2024 UT Dallas distinguished alum, established the Enric F. Madriguera Guitar Fund to support the guitar studies program and its students. Madriguera, the former Russell Cleveland Professor in Guitar Studies who served at UTD for 45 years, died in April 2024.
Kurjan was in the process of creating the endowment at the time of Madriguera’s death. The gift intended to be made in friendship became a remembrance.
“I think about Ric almost every day,” Kurjan said. “When he was alive, we may not have talked for weeks at a time, but when we finally met up, it was like no time had passed. I wanted to memorialize what he had dedicated himself to. He was a big part of my life, so it made sense to commemorate him, his music, dedication and fervor to the program he loved so much.”
Kurjan and Madriguera first met more than 45 years ago, finding a connection through music.
“I wanted to memorialize what he had dedicated himself to. He was a big part of my life, so it made sense to commemorate him, his music, dedication and fervor to the program he loved so much.”
Richard Kurjan MA’82
“I lived in a duplex in East Dallas, and one of the people on the other side was a graduate student in classical guitar at SMU [Southern Methodist University],” Kurjan said. “He introduced me to a bunch of guitarists because they were always having parties. Ric was one of the regular partygoers.”
Madriguera and Kurjan played music together, and Kurjan, a music enthusiast, loved listening to Madriguera’s classical guitar. Their friendship continued to grow, and the two were even roommates for a few years until Kurjan married. Madriguera played at the wedding and later at Kurjan’s wife’s funeral.
“Ric was a really good person and friend,” Kurjan said. “Living with him was like having a concert in our house every day, because if he wasn’t teaching, he was practicing at home. He taught me so much about my own perspective on music.”
Music was not the only thing Kurjan learned from their friendship. Madriguera’s death taught him to enjoy life, he said.
“If there is anything I take away from our friendship, it’s living life to the fullest and don’t wait for tomorrow, because you never know what it could bring,” Kurjan said. “He died very suddenly. I was with him the night before he passed away. So, if there’s anything Ric taught me, it’s to enjoy life like he did.”
Madriguera, who was director of the guitar studies program, was also the co-founder and artistic director of the annual Texas Guitar Competition and Festival, which began in 2001 at UTD. This year’s event starts March 6.
Many of those close to Madriguera also have made gifts to UT Dallas in his honor, including renowned classical guitarist Eliot Fisk, a longtime friend and former colleague who performed at the festival in the past.
“I donated with deep admiration and humility to the fund in honor of my beloved friend and colleague of many decades,” Fisk said. “Ric was always an inspiration, a gentle, kind and enlightened presence in our guitar community. He always gave so much of himself and asked for so little in return.”
Michele Hanlon MPA’18, former associate dean for the arts in the Harry W. Bass Jr. School of Arts, Humanities, and Technology, worked with Madriguera and credits him as an important contributor to the growing arts community at UTD.
To learn more about how UT Dallas is transforming the arts on campus, explore New Dimensions: The Campaign for UT Dallas.
“Enric dedicated himself to the excellence of our music program and was a champion for his guitar program and his students,” she said. “He was driven to create a space where his program could continue to thrive and grow. I admired the positivity and optimism with which he moved through the world. He brought kindness and collegiality to interactions with fellow faculty and students. A cherished friend and colleague, he is missed by many.”
Dr. Nils Roemer, dean of the Bass School and the Arts, Humanities, and Technology Distinguished University Chair, said Madriguera’s legacy at UTD will endure for generations.
“Dr. Enric Madriguera’s devotion to the arts at UTD will never be forgotten by his colleagues and students,” said Roemer, who is also director of the Ackerman Center for Holocaust Studies and the Stan and Barbara Rabin Distinguished Professor in Holocaust Studies. “To see such a large outpouring of support following his passing has been bittersweet. We miss him dearly, but we are incredibly grateful to see the community help continue his legacy.”
Kurjan hopes the endowment provides others with opportunities to learn and to engage creatively with music.
“I was very fortunate to have gotten scholarships, and I’m hopeful that others will have that same kind of opportunity,” he said. “Without the arts, things can get very bleak. They bring hope, pleasure and creativity to us.”