Conductor
Dr. José Flores is one of the pioneers of the Venezuelan Orchestra system known worldwide as “El Sistema” (The System). He started playing the violin in 1978 as part of this orchestra program. Dr. Flores obtained his Bachelor and master degrees from the Aaron Copland School of Music in New York and the title of Doctor in Musical Arts from the University of Arizona in 2006. He is a great advocate of string music education in the United States. He has been appointed President Elect for the Texas Chapter of the American String Teachers Association, an institution that promotes and gives supports to string education at the national level.

Dr. Flores has been a professor of violin and viola at Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi since 2006 and is a founding member of its Quartet in Residence, the Islander String Quartet. He also serves on the faculty of the Hartwick College Summer Festival in New York and has performed as a soloist and a chamber musician across the United States in New York, Texas, Arizona, and Pennsylvania. Dr. Flores has also performed in South Korea, Mexico, and Venezuela. His last tour to Venezuela included five cities in which he played chamber music and gave master classes to young talented violinists. In April 2011, Dr. Flores traveled to Italy as a guest instructor in the 2nd International Music Week Montepulciano, teaching chamber music and the class Viola for Violinists.