SOCRATES GARCIA LATIN JAZZ ORCHESTRA 

AT JEN CONFERENCE 2016!

We had a blast at the JEN Conference in Louisville, KY!
 The SGLJO performed twice, the main concert on Thursday and the Young Composers Showcase concert on Saturday.
The audience's reception of the music and the of band was incredible. Everybody played amazingly!
Kudos to each member of the ensemble. Helen de la Rosa, Pablito Drums, and Daniel Berroa gave the music the Dominican seal, at the highest level! It was great sharing that prestigious stage with UNC colleagues and students (Dana, Erik Steve, Kenyon, Briana, Adam, Mike, Frank); former professors (Jamey and Don); and great friends (all of the above mentioned plus Ryan, Paul, Brian, Clay, Steve Hawk, Ruben, and Brad). All of you guys are a constant flow of inspiration! Thanks for being there and for being a part of this part of my journey!


The second concert: we were invited to perform the winning compositions of the JEN's composition competition, the Young Composers Showcase. Four great compositions by our very own (SGLJO's lead trombone) Mike Conrad, Nacho Gonzalez, Matt Shugert, and Andrew Herring. We also played one of my compositions, Vantage Point. For this concert we had a few subs including the great Tom "Bones" Malone and Jeff Jarvis.

I also had the opportunity to mentor one of the composers, Nacho, as part of the JEN Mentoring Program. The other mentors were John Clayton, Alan Baylock, and Greg Yasinitsky. Thanks David Fodor for inviting us. It was an honor to be a part of this concert/ program.

The icing on the cake was that I also gave a clinic, Latin Jazz with a Dominican Tinge, on Dominican musics and how I incorporate Dominican elements in my jazz orchestra writing. It was a great opportunity for me to share part of my Dominican heritage and my music with the attendees. 

I'm now in Colorado Springs, where I just gave a clinic, Music Production and the iPad, and will be doing another one on Saturday, joining my beautiful and talented wife, Music Production and the iPad for the Upper Elementary Classroom. Super excited!!!! Then going to Texas for another set of clinics. More on these later.

A lot of great news to share and more coming!

Blessings to all,

S

In action!

Thanks!

Enjoying a "short" dinner with Pablito, Jose and Nomar Negroni, Nacho, and Federico Britos

The SGLJO after the concert

Mission accomplished! Daniel, Helen SG, Pablito

After the YCS concert. SG surrounded by Heavy Metal (a.k.a. brass)-
Mike Conrad, Tom Malone, Jeff Jarvis, Steve Hawk

Bobby Sanabria, Gene Perla, and SG