My name is Hector Ibarra, and I spend my time happily juggling the primary professional roles of multi-instrumentalist, producer, software developer, and educator. Music has played a leading role in my life since my first piano lesson at the age of ten, and since then I have picked up numerous other instruments, mainly in the categories of keyboard, percussion, and fretted and plucked string instruments. Given my musical background, I strive to constantly develop my craft, and to push my musical boundaries by exploring and experimenting with new genres, techniques, and instruments. Though making music solo has its place, my true passion is sharing the experience with others, be that collaborating with fellow musicians, or passing on my knowledge to develop the next generation of musicians.
Aside from music, my other professional passion is software development. As a totally blind musician and software developer, I have firsthand experience on the impact accessible and inclusive design can have on the capabilities of a disabled person. I share my accessible software and games with the world under the name Pato Productions, contribute to others’ projects where I can, and like with music, find joy in teaching the next generation of programmers.
When not elbow-deep in music or computer code, I spend my time sharing my ramblings on my Secular Survivor blog, advocating and fundraising for cancer-related causes, indulging my inner lifelong learner, or finding new ways to amuse myself as a lover of all things creative. I can regularly be found dabbling in one thing or other, or honing yet another skill to add to my bag of tricks, under the excuse that it is important to me to model to my students that one should never stop learning.