Guest Artist: Moisés Molina, cello and Laura Melton, piano

Cellist Moisés Molina, originally from Honduras, has built a distinguished career as a soloist, chamber and orchestral musician, teacher, and clinician. His artistry has taken him across the United States, Latin America, Europe, and Asia, with performances and recordings on the Centaur, Parma, Profil, and New World labels.

Molina has appeared at renowned international festivals including the Toradze International Music Festival (Tbilisi, Georgia), the Biennial Violoncello Festival (Lima, Peru), the Orfeo Music Festival (Italy), and the Northern Lights Music Festival (USA). A passionate educator, he has also taught at the Singing River Cello Workshop, the Tennessee Valley Music Festival, and Scor! String Experiences. He regularly performs with the ensemble of the Chicago Conducting Masterclass and Workshop.

As a guest artist, Molina has been featured at the St. Augustine Music Festival (Florida), the International Chamber Music Festival (Lima, Peru), the Cuzco Music Festival, and the First International Cello Festival (Huánuco, Peru). He has presented master classes at the Conservatorio Nacional de Música (Dominican Republic), the Instituto Superior de Artes (Cuba), the Tennessee Cello Workshop, and the Universidad Nacional Autónoma de Honduras.

An active orchestral musician, Molina serves as Principal Cellist of the Mobile Symphony Orchestra, the Tuscaloosa Symphony Orchestra, and the Columbus Symphony Orchestra (GA), while also performing frequently with the Alabama Symphony Orchestra. He has previously held leadership positions with the Abilene Philharmonic, Abilene Opera, and the Quincy Symphony Orchestra (IL), among others.

Currently Associate Professor of Cello and Director of the Cuba Center at the University of Alabama, Dr. Molina has also taught at Western Illinois University, Hardin-Simmons University, and Abilene Christian University. He has presented at state music education conferences, conducted youth and festival orchestras, and, early in his career, was awarded an orchestral fellowship to the Aspen Music Festival.

Laura Melton, Professor of Piano Bowling Green State University, has performed in Asia, Europe, South America and throughout the US.  A prizewinner in several major international competitions, Melton has appeared as a soloist with the National Symphony Orchestra at the Kennedy Center in Washington, DC, the Freiburg Musikhochschulorchester in Germany, the San Francisco Chamber Players, and the International Chamber Orchestra in California. She has been featured on Südwestfunk Radio (Germany), Kol Israel, Radio Nacional de España and National Public Radio's Performance Today in celebration of the birthday of composers, John Corigliano and Samuel Adler.

Melton received rave reviews for her Naxos American Classics Series CD, Solo Piano Works of Sebastian Currier.  Gramophone hails her as “an artist who can tame formidable technical beasts and bring colorful delineation to a multiplicity of moods and textures.  The New York Times praises her playing as “expressive and with dexterous flair.” Additional recordings include solo piano and chamber music works by Samuel Adler for Naxos, and Currier’s violin and piano works for Albany Records with violinist, Yehonatan Berick.

Melton is an avid chamber musician and has appeared in several US summer festivals including Ravinia, Aspen, and Sarasota, as well as European festivals in Holland, Switzerland, Germany and Greece.  She holds a bachelor's degree from the University of Maryland, where she was a student of Nelita True; a master's degree from the University of Southern California, under John Perry; and a doctorate from Rice University, where she was a graduate fellow and teaching assistant to John Perry. As a student of Robert Levin, she spent three years in Germany as a Fulbright Scholar, earning the Solistendiplom while studying at the Staatliche Hochschule für Musik in Freiburg.

Melton’s students have won numerous competitions and awards, and have been accepted into such prestigious programs as the Curtis Institute, Juilliard, Eastman, Oberlin, Peabody and the New England Conservatory. A graduate of the Interlochen Arts Academy and student of Michael Coonrod, Melton taught at the Interlochen Arts Camp for 12 summers.  Prior to her BGSU appointment in 1999, Melton was on the faculty of the Idyllwild Arts Academy in California.