Artist, composer, educator, and cultural manager, José Soto is founder and president of the Fundación Armonía Colectiva and Artistic Director of the FIJAZZ Costa Rica International Jazz Festival. With a goal of creating socially aware music that betters society, he experiments with classical music, Latin American music, jazz, and improvisation. His music studies took him to the Universidad Nacional de Costa Rica, New England Conservatory, and the Berklee Global Jazz Institute Master’s program at the Berklee College of Music.

Soto co-founded and taught at Escuela de Artes de San Pablo in Costa Rica and the Danilo Pérez Foundation Children’s Program in Panama, where he worked for two years. In Costa Rica, he worked as a teacher at several respected institutions. In the United States, he has taught lessons at the Berklee Global Jazz Institute Workshop at the Newport Jazz Festival, North End Music & Performing Arts Center, Powers Music School, among many others. He has also taught master classes worldwide in countries such as Mexico, Chile, Panama, Costa Rica, among others.

Soto has performed in many national and international festivals in Latin America, United States and Europe. He aims to promote new musical experiences for audiences by exploring a variety of sounds.