My name is Santiago and I am from Bogota, Colombia. All my musical ambitions started when I was 12 years old. At that time, I started playing the guitar. I discovered music listening to this 70’s hard rock that my dad liked to listen to at home, and by playing Guitar Hero with my brother. It wasn’t until the age of 15 that I understood that music was something that made me special, or at least that was how people started to see me. Music helped me to differentiate myself from the people I knew. I grew up in a non-musician family, so I guess it was just lucky, or destiny, that put me on this path of music.

 

At the age of 16, I started taking part-time classes at a BIN school in Bogota, Colombia where I started learning fundamentals of harmony and ear training; I also, for the first time, started taking formal classes with a guitar teacher. I had several presentations at my high school, winning every year at least one prize in the annual talent contest. That help me to acquire experience as a performer and sometimes as a band leader.

 

It wasn’t until I was almost 18 that I decided to do the Berklee audition, just before graduating from high school. Because I knew that my parents couldn’t afford to pay for Berklee, I also decided to audition in different schools in France as a backup. I was surprised that they actually accepted me both at Berklee and at The Music Academy International, a BIN school in Nancy, France.

 

In my search of discovering the world, learning another language, and being better prepared before entering Berklee, I decided to go to France to do a 1 year program of Jazz Performance. There I had the luck to study with well-know musicians like Pierre-Alain Goualch, Frank Agulhon, Dominique Di Piazza and Yannick Robert etc. - who were all teachers at The Music Academy International and The Conservatory of Nancy.

 

At the end of the year we had to present some performance examinations to obtain the diploma; it was a huge surprise for me to know that I had a very good mention, and I had been Best of Promotion in the Jazz Program due to my high scores in the final exams. Thanks to the preparation in France, I was able to win an award from the Latin Grammys Cultural Foundation, which would eventually help me to start my studies at Berklee.

 

Once I came to Berklee my whole vision of my professional goals changed completely. I discovered that I want the recognition for my music, not for an image. That’s how I was raised. Raised to be recognized for what I am, and not for what I try to appear - as many musicians frequently do nowadays. Furthermore, I discovered the main motivation I have is to able to share through music what I think, what I believe, what I feel etc. Trying to send a message to the people, to the world. To be heard because I believe I have lot to say. To achieve through music that people who have never met me understand that, in fact, we are not that different at all. That is what inspires me, that is what defines me as a person, and hopefully one day I will be able to inspire other people with what I do.

 

Now that I am here, I expect to form myself as a performer and composer of different genres like Jazz, Latin, Classical etc. I am willing also to learn from all the people that surround me, so I can understand a little bit more about production or business or arranging, even though those are not going to be my main focus. I see myself as a teacher giving courses, playing on stage for other bands, recording for other artists, and even making music for commercials and television. I know the key is to continue educating myself all the time, not only as a musician but as an artist; to continue building my network of musicians, and by being professional in all the subjects and projects I will take at Berklee.

 

Lastly, I discovered something beautiful about music especially studying improvised music. Jazz, for example, consists in a constant interaction based in what we hear. This gives us the chance to play - looking forward the quality of the music of the group, and not just at the individual level. What would happen if we could apply the same concept in other contexts of life? People will suddenly start acting not to solve the individual needs but to solve the collective needs. Always trying to listen to others before judging or making decisions. One of my biggest aspirations is to be able to educate people through music education. It is not just about cultivating musicians, but also good human beings, by teaching them to apply in society the concepts we use in music.