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Socrates Garcia

Socrates Garcia

Professor of Music, Director of Music Technology

School of Music
College of Performing and Visual Arts

Contact Information

Phone
(970) 351-1356
Office
Frasier 89

Professional/Academic Experience

Socrates Garcia is a composer, arranger, producer, recording engineer, guitarist, and educator from the Dominican Republic. At UNC he teaches courses in music technology such as Introduction to Music Technology, Digital Composition, Recording Techniques, and Music Production. 

As an arranger/producer and recording engineer his work is found on numerous albums and a myriad of side-projects. Garcia's recording and performing credits include the album Yo Por Ti by Puerto Rican artist Olga Tañon, Grammy Award winner as Merengue Album of the Year 2001; Milly Quezada’s Tesoros de mi Tierra, which reached number 14 on Billboard’s Tropical Song charts; and national and international performances with the Socrates Garcia Latin Jazz Orchestra, among others.

As a touring musician, guitarist or keyboardist, he has performed in many Latin-American countries, including Mexico, Colombia, Venezuela, Bolivia, Costa Rica, Aruba, and throughout the Dominican Republic. He has presented clinics and workshops on music technology and/or jazz composition/arranging, nationally and internationally, and actively performs with his Socrates Garcia Latin Jazz Orchestra.

Previous to his current position at UNC, he served as Adjunct Professor of Music at Middle Tennessee State University and, from 2000 to 2005, taught Jazz Harmony and Theory at The National Conservatory of Music of Santo Domingo.

Dr. Garcia holds degrees from Luther College (Theory and Composition), Middle Tennessee State University (Masters in Jazz Studies, Composition), and University of Northern Colorado (Doctorate in Jazz Studies, Composition).

He endorses Strandberg Guitars and is a featured artist for Warm Audio.

His latest album, Back Home (MAMA Records), performed by the Socrates Garcia Latin Jazz Orchestra, is a symbiotic combination of Afro-Dominican and Afro-Caribbean genres within the aesthetic of contemporary orchestral jazz. An award winning album, it has received numerous accolades by critics and jazz fans alike, both nationally and internationally.