Jose Arturo Soto Gamboa

Driven by the purpose of creating socially conscious music, José Soto, an award-winning artist and a prominent Costa Rican pianist, composer, and educator, explores free improvisation, jazz, classical music, and Latin American rhythms. His musical education led him to study at the National University of Costa Rica, the New England Conservatory, and the master's program at the Berklee Global Jazz Institute at Berklee College of Music.

Recently, he released his album titled The Ancestral Call at Lincoln Center in New York, inspired by the ancestral knowledge and culture of the Bribri indigenous community of Costa Rica. The Global Music Awards awarded this album the Gold Medal, and it was mentioned in NPR's list of Best Alternative Latin Music in 2023. It has also been highlighted by JAZZIZ Editors' Choice and featured in NBC New York and People. Prominent jazz musicians, including George Garzone and Francisco Mela, recorded on this project.

In his career as a performer, Soto has toured nationally and internationally with the most influential groups in his country and has shared the stage with many renowned artists, such as Francisco Mela, George Garzone, Luciana Souza, Chico Pinheiro, Danilo Pérez, and Eddie Daniels, performing at numerous festivals in Latin America, the United States, and Europe.

Soto currently resides in Boston, where he works as a professor in the ear training department at Berklee College of Music.