José Antonio Molina
Music Director of the National Symphony Orchestra of the Dominican Republic since March 2009, orchestra conductor, composer and pianist José Antonio Molina was born in Santo Domingo in the year 1960. He studied piano in the National Conservatory of Music. At the age of 20 he moved to New York, where he obtained his Bachelor and a Master’s degree in the Manhattan School of Music and at the same time studied composition and conducting in the Juilliard School.
His debut as orchestra conductor was with the Symphony Orchestra of Maracaibo, Venezuela. In the year 1990 he was chosen as one of the three finalists of the Exxon Competition for orchestra conductors, amongst a group of more than one hundred conductors from around the world.
He is the first Dominican to be named as Principal Conductor of an American orchestra, The Greater Palm Beach Symphony. He debuted in the Kravis Center, conducting mezzosoprano Marilyn Horne and the Palm Beach Opera Orchestra.
In 1995 he conducted Latin superstar Gloria Estefan in the Vatican as part of the celebration of the 50th anniversary of the ordainment as priest of Pope John Paul II. Since 1996, Maestro Molina was conductor and principal arranger for the Pavarotti and Friends concerts.
His “Yaya” overture was played by the National Symphony Orchestra conducted by Maestro Leonard Slatkin during the first Latin-Caribbean Festival in the Kennedy Center in Washington, D. C.
In the year 2002, Maestro Molina conducted Spanish tenor José Carreras in a gala concert in the Dominican Republic. In 2006 he was invited as Conductor and Principal arranger for the inauguration of the “Carnival Performing Arts Center” in Miami, Florida.
He has intensely dedicated his time to the recording industry. “Caribbean Jems” is the title of the album produced, arranged and conducted by Maestro Molina, under the auspices of the Dominican Ministry of Tourism, with the participation of special guests Arturo Sandoval, Gonzalo Rubalcaba and Ed Calle.
“Caribbean Treasures” is another recording project conducted and produced by him with the London Symphony Orchestra, featuring Paquito D’Rivera as special guest. That production, with classical works of Dominican composers, includes “Merengue Fantasy” composed by Maestro Molina.
In the year 2007 he was guest conductor during the VI Santo Domingo Music Festival. His fanfare “Novi Temporis”, commissioned in commemoration of the tenth anniversary of the festival, debuted in the inaugural concert of the festival.
The ongoing 2008-2009 season of Maestro Molina started with a concert in the month of August of 2008 in commemoration of the 35th anniversary of Teatro Nacional Eduardo Brito, in an “All Beethoven” concert program which included Symphonies Nos. 5 and 9 (Choral). On October 9, 2008 he was again invited to conduct a concert for the reinauguration of the Palace of Fine Arts of Santo Domingo, with a program dedicated to Dominican composers.
Recent presentations of Maestro Molina included concerts in December 2008 with Michel Camilo and cellist Alisa Weilerstein in the Arsht Center of Miami with the Florida Symphony, as well as a presentation with the legendary singer José Feliciano with the Miami Pops Orchestra. That same year, he was designated by the Concert Association of Florida as Musical Conductor and Principal Conductor.
Awarded the “Soberano”, the highest recognition to the works of an artist in the Dominican Republic, he was also named Emeritus Professor of the Autonomous University of Santo Domingo. In 1996 the Dominican Government granted him the title of Cultural Ambassador. In the year 2001 he was awarded the Order of Duarte, Sánchez y Mella in the grade of Great Silver Cross . In June of 2008 the Pedro Henríquez Ureña National University (UNPHU) granted him an Honoris Causa (Honorary) Doctorate. He is also founder and president of the Latin-American Young Artists Foundation.