Nino Segarra (born June 21, 1953) is a Puerto Rican singer, composer, musician and musical arranger.

Early years

Segarra was born on June 21, 1953 in Maricao, Puerto Rico. He received his primary and secondary education in his hometown. Luis Millán, from Segarra's hometown of Maricao, PR, discovered the young Segarra's musical talent at the age of 14. Under his guidance, Segarra started with the guitar as his first instrument. In 1976, he played the drums and guitar for various local bands, When he was 16 years old, Segarra auditioned for the role of guitar player and was hired by a band called "The Monarc", however a year later he joined another band "Mundo de Ponce" with whom he made his first recording and musical arrangement. Segarra obtained his bachelor's degree in Applied Music, specializing in voice, arrangements, and composition, as well as another degree in music education from the Inter-American University in San Germán, Puerto Rico, He earned his bachelor's degree with a major in music.

Musical arranger and composer

Segarra began making musical arrangements for theater productions and symphony orchestras. By 1988, he had made arrangements for Andy Montañez, Marvin Santiago, Eddie Santiago and Oscar de Leon. Segarra also produced and made the musical arrangements for his own songs. Among them Con la Musica por dentro (With Music Inside), El Maestro (The Teacher), Solo por Tí (Only for you), Loco de Amor (Crazy for Love) and Porque te Amo (Because I Love You) (written by Alberto Testa and Giampiero Felisatti in Italy and sung for the first time by Mina with the name "Più di così" in 1984 and only later translated by Pedro Arroyo in 1990), which became a number one hit in the Hispanic community of the United States, Puerto Rico and the rest of Latin-America.

Albums

Recordings

Amongst some of his recordings are the following: On November 10, 1998, Segarra released the album Romantico Salsero, which became a hit. On September 21, 2001, Segarra joined Eddie Santiago, Willie Gonzalez and David Pabon in a salsa concert held in Medellín, Colombia. Segarra and Pabon participated in the first International Cup of Salsa celebrated in Lima, Peru, on July 17, 2004. There he sang one of his compositions Vivo por Ella (I live for her), which he dedicated to the late Tito Puente. He also toured Venezuela, Peru and the United States.

Charts

Albums

Singles

Later years

Among those influenced by Nino Segarra was his cousin Eddie Segarra who is the lead vocalist and percussionist of "Kinkajou" a salsa and merengue band whose base of operations is located in Dallas, Texas.