Born and raised in Humacao, Puerto Rico, Jose has been performing on percussion instruments since he was five years old. At age 11, he started formal music lessons with Professor Jose “Tito” Rivera at the Escuela Libre De Música de Humacao. At 12 years of age, Jose started performing with Humacao Symphonic Band under the direction of Professor German Peña Plaza. With the Humacao Symphonic Band, Jose traveled to Venezuela, New York, Costa Rica, Virgin Islands and Dominican Republic. At age 14, Jose received formal percussion lessons from Professor Jose "Pepe" Torres at the Escuela Libre de Música de Caguas.  Under Torres direction, Jose performed with the Puerto Rico Symphony Orchestra, Puerto Rico State Band and also with a variety of local bands.  By the age of 17, Jose was accepted into the Puerto Rico Conservatory of Music where he studied percussion with Professor Jose Alicea. Under Alicea's direction, Jose played for the America youth symphony orchestra based in San Juan, Puerto Rico.  In 1994, Jose moved to Miami, where he attended the University of Miami and Florida International University.   

Through the course of his life, Jose has had the opportunity to perform with renown artists such as Arturo Sandoval, Tito Puente, Marcos Barrientos, Gerson Kelly, Danilo Montero, Mike Orta, Bobby Cruz, Jose "Papo" Rivera, “Steel Pan virtuoso” Liam Teague, etc... He had also performed at the Disney’s Animal Kingdom “Tarzan Rocks”, and “The Village Beatniks” shows, at the Universal Studios Florida “The I Love Lucy tribute show!”,”The Paul Vesco Orchestra”, “Rico Monaco and Sol Sons”, “Michael Andrews & Swingerhead”, and many others. Jose recorded the percussion tracks for Disney’s Tarzan in Broadway show.  Jose currently resides in Orlando, Florida where he performs, does recordings and also teaches percussion on a regular basis. He had also served as an Artist in Residence for several universities across the nation. Jose is one of the most on-demand percussionist today.

He also leads his own percussion group called “Los Rumberos de El Nuevo Dia”, his latin jazz band "Jose Rosa and Friends" and also co-leads with Hector "Pocho" Neciosup a fusion Latin-American Jazz band named: "Tinya".  In addition, he can also be heard and seen in many radio ads and TV programs like syndicated PBS program “Jazz Then and Now” and also on the Travel channel in the program "The making of Disney's Animal Kingdom".

He has also co-written several instructional books with his long time friend Professor Hector”Pocho” Neciosup some of the titles are: "Award winning" - "The Book of Contemporary Conga Techniques", "Beyond The Secret Hand / Mas alla de la Mano Secreta" and “The Contemporary Hand Drummer” both books published and distributed by Hal Leonard Corporation, "The Contemporary Latin Drummer minus one", "The Contemporary Latin-American Percussionist", “World Music Survey: The History of Music From Cuba, The Caribbean, South America and the United States",  among many others...

His latest Instructional Video: “The Contemporary Hand Drummer Vol. 1” will be release in Spring 2009. Jose is a very accomplished educator, his Drums and Percussion Camp entitled: “Contemporary Drums and Percussion Camp” is held every year at the University of Central Florida in Orlando. Hundreds of students come from all over the world to study at the camp with Jose Rosa, Glen Caruba and Hector “Pocho” Neciosup.

     Jose is an active member of the American Federation of Musicians (Local 389), Percussive Arts Society, ASCAP, MENC, International Association of Music Educators, Christian Educators Association International.

Jose proudly endorses: Pearl Drums and Percussion, Remo Drumheads, Beato Bags, Innovative Percussion Drum Sticks and Mallets, Paiste Cymbals, Pintech Electronic Percussion, Phat Foot Accessories.

Check out Jose's profile at Pearl Corporation's Main website located at:

http://www.pearldrum.com/Artists/Percussion-artists.aspx?id=339