José Valentino

Considered by many to be one of the most trailblazing multi-hyphenates of his generation and a fearless Christian artist, Dr. José Valentino Ruiz is an expert in music & media, television, global outreach & community entrepreneurship, and education industries. To date and within five continents, Dr. Ruiz has performed 1400+ concerts (i.e., regularly hired as a headliner for commercial, jazz, classical, global music, and Christian worship styles); produced 120+ albums (20 albums as an artist); produced 30 nationally-televised film scores & jingles; keynoted empirical research presentations at 50+ universities; and facilitated 40+ mission trips in partnership with numerous organizations (i.e., Boundless Global, World Relief, among others) in Africa, Europe, Asia, North America, and South America. His artistry and scholarship have been featured nationally and internationally in media outlets such as USA Today, Billboard, Yahoo!, ESPN, PBS, Fox, CBS, ABC, Univision, Telemundo, and NBC, to name a few. Among prestigious performance & production opportunities, Dr. Ruiz has headlined as a Featured Artist at Carnegie Hall and Tanglewood Hall and was a former Music Producer for American Idol and X-Factor.

Distinctions in Performance, Production, Composition, Entrepreneurship, & Leadership:

Dr. Ruiz is an EMMY® Award Winning music producer and saxophonist (i.e.: 2018 Best Cultural Documentary); Latin GRAMMY® Award Winning composer and flutist (i.e.: 2020 Best Contemporary Classical Composition); Latin GRAMMY® Award Winning album audio engineer and flutist (i.e.: 2019 Best Christian Album in Spanish Language); Latin GRAMMY® Award Nominated album producer, mastering engineer, and arranger (i.e.: 2016 Best Instrumental Album); Latin GRAMMY® Award Nominated artist, composer, producer, and audio engineer (i.e.: 2015 Best Latin Jazz/Jazz Album); 53-time DOWNBEAT® Music Award Winning performer, bandleader, and audio engineer (i.e.: Dr. Ruiz is the record holder; categories include Jazz Soloist, Small Jazz Group, Blues/Pop/Rock Soloist, Blues/Pop/Rock Group, Latin Group, Studio Engineered Recording, Live Engineered Recording, and Classical Soloist); AVA Digital® Award Winning (Gold Medal) lead music producer, supervisor of music & audio production, and mastering engineer (i.e.: 2021 Best Music Video); DOVE® Award Nominated album recording engineer, saxophonist, and background vocalist (i.e.: Spanish Language Album of the Year); ARPA® Award Winning album recording engineer, saxophonist, and background vocalist (i.e.: 2022 Best Christian Album - Male Vocal category); ARPA® Award Nominated album (i.e.: 2022 Album of the Year); Fast Company's 2022 Top 10 Most Innovative Companies (category: video) for the company, Hayden5, for which Dr. Ruiz is Resident Media Composer.

Moreover, Dr. Ruiz is a 4-time Global Music® Award Winning album producer, featured artist, mixing engineer, & record label executive (i.e.: 2018 Meditation Album; 2018 Album of the Year; 2022 Nuevo Flamenco Album; and 2022 Vocal Jazz Album); International Commissioned Composer® for the 2022 Guitar Foundation of America International Mentorship Program; Parents' Choice® Award Winning Gold Medal Album musician and audio engineer (i.e.: 2017 Best Children's Album); 2021 UF Preeminence Term Professor Nominee (16 out of approximately 5000 professors); a JRME National Doctoral Dissertation Award Nominee; 5-time UK Music Industry® Award Winner (i.e.: 2012-2016 Best Instrumental Product); 2019 Society of Arts Entrepreneurship Research Impact Award Nominee, 2021 Hillsborough County Commendation (Tampa Bay) recipient for Excellence in Cultural Entrepreneurship; 2021 USF Outstanding Young Alumni® Award Winner (6 of 100k alumni); 2-time Big Easy Entertainment® Award Winning featured flute and saxophone artist, producer, and audio engineer (i.e., 2018 and 2019 Best World Music Album); 2017 For Bass Players Only® Magazine Featured Artist of November; and 2006 YAMAHA® Young Performing Artist® Award Winner (Flute).

Significant awards in film & television arts and sciences as a film composer & music producer include: 2-time Chelsea Film Festival Award Winner (i.e., 2015 Best Featured Film and Best Dramatic Film); 2-time Bahamas International Film Festival Winner (i.e., 2014 New Vision Award Winner and Main Feature Film Award Winner); Champs Elysees Film Festival Award Winner (i.e., 2014 Best American Feature Film); 2014 Miami Independent Film Festival Award Winner; 2-time Gasparilla International Film Festival Winner (i.e., 2009 Best Documentary and 2006 Best Short Film); Heartland International Film Festival (i.e., 2014 Official Selection); The Colombian Festival (i.e., 2014 Official Selection); Tall Grass International Film Festival (i.e., 2014 Official Selection); American Festival (i.e., 2014 Official Selection); 15 Minutes of Fame Film Festival (i.e., 2016 Official Selection); Napa Valley Film Festival (i.e., 2014 Official Selection); New Orleans Film Festival (i.e., 2014 Official Selection); and New Hampshire Film Festival (i.e., 2014 Official Selection).

Current Leadership Roles in Business & Entrepreneurship in Higher Education:

• Co-Chair of Business, Entrepreneurship, and Career Planning at the College of the Arts at the University of Florida (2021 - Present)
• Head & Inaugural Professor of Music Business & Entrepreneurship at the School of Music at the University of Florida (2019 - Present)
• UF Music Business & Entrepreneurship Program developed by Dr. Ruiz: Click  HERE.

Current Leadership in Entrepreneurial Joint-Ventures:

• Founder, CEO, & Producer at JV Music Enterprises (2006 - Present) —- Dr. Ruiz's label that has garnered many of the distinctions listed above.
• Resident Composer/Music Producer at Hayden 5 (2010 - Present) —- A Top 10 media production company in the world.
• Director of Global Entrepreneurship Initiatives at Diaz Music Institute 501C3 (2017 - Present) —- One of U.S.A.'s best music education centers for underserved students.
• Global Ambassador at Worldwind Music UK Co. Ltd. (2010 - Present) —- No. 1 Music Merchant for Flutes and Saxophones in parts of Europe, Asia, & U.S.A.

Publications and Presentations:

Mission: To uncover best practices for teaching, facilitating, and engaging in arts entrepreneurial endeavors to foster 1) arts enterprise scalability and leverage (i.e., music & media production, and performances); 2) multi-level societal amelioration (i.e. cultural empathy and health awareness); and 3) functionality and sustainability in Post-COVID multimodal creative economies.

Dr. Ruiz serves as an Editorial Board Member for Artivate: A Journal of Entrepreneurship in the Arts. Ruiz's has been published in the Journal of Arts Entrepreneurship Education; International Journal of Community Music; Journal of Popular Music Education; The Conversation; National Association for Music Education; UF News; VoyageTampa; All About Jazz; and Kansas Music Review. Ruiz's research presentations and keynotes have been delivered at the International Society of Music Education; Society of Arts Entrepreneurship Education; Jazz Education Network International Conference; International Jazz and Entrepreneurship Camp; National Association for Music Merchants (NAMM Show - 7x); Global Music Production and Entrepreneurship Summit; National Association for Music Education; CAME Arts Entrepreneurship + Covid Era day; International Guitar Foundations of America Conference; Association of Popular Music Education; University Research Magazine Association Conference; Florida Music Education Association; Texas Music Education Association; The Midwest Clinic; National Flute Association; Florida Statewide Best Practices for Undergraduate Research Symposium; Society of Musicology; and many more.

Credentials & Previous Employments:

Dr. Ruiz holds the Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.) in Music, concentration in Music Education with cognates in Performance, Production, and Pedagogy; Doctor of Ministry (D.Min.) in Global Outreach with concentrations in Missiology and Ethnodoxology; Master of Music (M.M.) in Instrumental Performance with concentration in Classical and Studio Music/Jazz; and Bachelor of Arts (B.A.) in Music Studies with a concentration in Music Theory.

Previous employments include: Assistant Professor of Music Business, Jazz, and Production at Lee University; Pastor of Youth Worship, College Ministry, & Pastor of At-Risk Student Development at Westmore Church of God; Music Teacher for Exceptional Students at Pepin Academies; and Course Developer and Instructor of Ethnodoxology, Global Music, and Production at University of South Florida.