Faculty Profile

Henry Jose Santos

M.M., piano, Boston University
B.M., piano, Boston University

Henry Jose Santos, Professor of Music at Bridgewater State College, has studied and performed in this country and in Europe. Among his performances are those at Jordan Hall, the Salle Gaveau in Paris, New York and Philadelphia. He was a finalist in the Louis Moreau Gottshalk Competition for Pianists and Composers sponsored by the Pan American Association, and was selected to perform the winning composition with the Chilean Symphony Orchestra in Santiago, Chile. Professor Santos completed undergraduate and graduate studies at the School of Fine and Applied Arts, Boston University, where he studied piano with Alfredo Fondacaro, accompanying with Carl Lawson and composition with Dr. Hugo Norden. He was also the studio accompanist for Roland Hayes.

Professor Santos' work extends beyond the piano repertoire to composition. His works have been performed at Smith College, Sanders Theatre, and Harvard University, where his work "Leola," performed by Videmus (New World Recordings), was praised by Boston Globe Critic Richard Dyer. Other compositions have been performed on the South Shore, in the rotunda of Rhode Island's State House and in Maine.

His compositions are listed in the "Keyboard Music of Black Composers" and "String Music of Black Composers" compiled by Aaron Horne, published by Greenwood Press, Westport, Connecticut, 1992. He is also listed as a pianist by Dominique Rene de Lema in "Reflections on Afro-American Music" published by Kent State University Press in 1973.

He performed two Mozart Concerti, K. 271 in E-flat Major and K. 488 in A Major, during the Mozart Festival year with the Mayflower Chamber Orchestra under the direction of J. Fred Thornton. Professor Santos previously taught at the Perkins School for the Blind in Watertown, Massachusetts.

Last Modified: October 16, 2007