1979, Theodore Vincent the Fifth was born in Oakland by Hair Salon Mogul Maria Caro and Funk keyboard Composer/Band leader Theodore Vincent IV. He would have been raised as a funk composer in the tradition of Fred Wesley ,Herbie Hancock and George Clinton, but his parents separated one year after his birth. As he grew older his mother wouldn’t dare buy him any musical instruments for fear that he might end up like his father. Theodore’s musical consciousness was insatiable. With out any musical instrument Thedore composed his first piece using one of the first midi sequencers available on the Macintosh classic using a software product that was secretly handed to him by his father. His father was working as a corporate sound designer and songwriter for NASA, Apple, Lockheed, the City of Oakland among many other young content hungry organizations during these years.

Having access to state of the art software enabled Theodore to study the techniques used by the best of the Industrial genre. Theodore researched and reproduced audio techniques by Industrial music masters Trent Reznor and Sascha Konietzko. He attended Jazz and studio recording classes at Berkeley High School, studied classical and studio recording at Orange Coast College. Later he studied composition for theatrical accompaniment at U.C. Berkeley. Under the direction of U.C.Berkeley PHD Funk candidate Rickey Vincent, Theodore also gained a repertoire of Funk guitar techniques. A handful of his works were commissioned by student groups, and individual projects as an undergraduate. During this time he wrote the script and score for his modern dance musical entitled the Quintessensual Project. In his father’s footsteps he also wrote songs for a Citibank Advertising campaign targeting the student body.

Following the completion of his degree in Psychology with a focus in temporal meaning structures, Theodore attended the Academy of Art University where he received one year of a Master of Fine Arts program in Advertising. During this time an Alumni of the Academy of Art University commissioned Theodore to work on the score for his film entitled the Fugue for Nazareth. This project allowed Theodore to explore the spectrum from east to west through the eyes of the main character of this film. The main character in this story attempts to integrate his eastern traditions, into the classical training he is receiving in a fictional San Francisco conservatory, while under the emotional stress of the events of 9-11. The style required of this film led Theodore into an in depth study of composers, Sergei Vasilyevich Rachmaninoff who wrote many of his most popular pieces in his early twenties, and Phillip Glass who represents eastern and western integration in contemporary modern classical.

While composing in the modern classical genre for the Fugue for Nazareth project, Theodore has produced a library of electronic and rhythmic compositions which have been heard in San Francisco Industrial Clubs and as background music for numerous Bay Area Rap Artists. July 2004, the berkeleycomposer.com web site was created primarily as a way for rap artists and electronic music artists to gain easy access to download tracks intended for their use.

Theodore Vincent the Fifth resides with his wife and child in San Francisco where he continues his compositional work and research for future musical projects.