Socrates Garcia

His musical life began when he was 13, at Constanza, a very small town in the mountains of the Dominican Republic. In his first years, he was very influenced by heavy metal artitsts/bands like Kiss, Iron Maiden, Ozzy Osbourne, and some bands from Spain such as Barón Rojo and Obús. When he turned 16, he formed his first heavy metal band, Hekaton. This band became one of the most important bands in the underground music scene in Santo Domingo in the late 80s. By 1990, he began his studies at the National Conservatory of Music, in Santo Domingo, where he joined the Conservatory’s Jazz Big Band, which was his introduction to the world of jazz. He then began taking classes on jazz harmony with Gustavo Rodriguez. His first commercial compositions date from this period, writing jingles for a considerable variety of products, either for television or radio. In 1995, he enrolled in the Composing and Arranging Program (CAP) at the worldwide famous Grove School of Music, under the direct tutelage of Mr. Dick Grove (RIP). Following two years of tutelage, the old maestro Grove said, “Socrates is one of the topmost students I have had in the program, and I’ve had around 1,200.” To expand his education, in 1997, he enrolled in the Audio Institute of America, where he graduated as a recording engineer. That same year, he is recruited to join MIDILAB’s staff, the famous arranger/producer Manuel Tejada’s recording studio. At the same time he begins his stay with one of the most important Latin bands of the ‘90s, Los Ilegales. He was the band’s musical director and keyboardist for the ‘97 - ‘98 tour. He then received a call to join the house band for one of the most popular TV shows in Santo Domingo, El Gordo de la Semana, where he played keyboards for over 5 years. By this time he was working on a great variety of important albums, either as arranger/producer, recording engineer, guitarist or keyboardist. Worth to mention is “Yo Por Ti,” Grammy Award winner of Merengue Album of the Year 2001, by Puerto Rican artist Olga Tañon, where he worked as recording engineer. On top of that, he worked on theatre acts including: “Grease,” “Saturday Night Fever,” “Dirty Dancing,” among others. With more than twelve years of private teaching experience in guitar, music reading and harmony, in 2001, he was asked join the National Conservatory of Music faculty, as the jazz harmony teacher, position he held for four years. Also in early 2001, he founded his own recording studio, “Prisma Sound Studio,” gaining a reputable position in the Dominican recording business. In 2003, one of his compositions, “Eclipse MM,” written for full symphony orchestra, was among the winners in the classical field at the National Composition Contest organized by Casa de Teatro, in Santo Domingo. In 2004, Socrates completed his first solo album, titled “Sueños” (“Dreams”). This album contains a fusion of rock, jazz, and Latin music, guitar oriented. This same year, he took the keyboard chair in the gospel group of the worldwide famous Latin artist Juan Luis Guerra. He remained in this group a short period of time because he was awarded a scholarship to continue his studies at the prestigious Luther College, in the USA. At Luther he studied with composers Jonathan Monhardt, Brooke Joyce, and JC Sanford. He graduated Magna Cum Laude at this institution and was awarded a graduate assistant position at Middle Tennessee State University, where he recently graduated with a Master’s degree in Jazz Composition.