José Antonio Molina Miniño is a Dominican conductor, pianist, composer and arranger, born in Santo Domingo on June 4, 1960. He has been principal conductor of the Orquesta Sinfónica Nacional de la República Dominicana since March 2009.

Family and training

He is the son of Papa Molina, the trumpeter, composer and arranger, and of Josefina Miniño, a choreographer and dancer. He studied piano at the Conservatorio Nacional de Música with Vicente Grisolía, and at twenty moved to New York, where he earned his bachelor's and master's degrees at the Manhattan School of Music, finishing the master's in piano with honors in 1985. He studied composition and conducting at the Juilliard School.

Early career

In 1984 he made his debut as a pianist with the Orquesta Sinfónica Nacional under Julio de Windt, playing the Grieg Piano Concerto, and conducted the New York Lab Orchestra at St. Patrick's Cathedral in a program that included his own «Études for Orchestra». In 1986 he conducted the Maracaibo Symphony in Venezuela, and in 1989 he premiered his merengue «Fantasía para Orquesta» at the Teatro Nacional. He was one of three finalists in the 1990 Exxon competition for orchestral conductors, chosen from more than a hundred candidates.

In Cuba in 1991 he conducted the Matanzas Symphony, the Orquesta Sinfónica Nacional de Cuba and a staging of «Cavalleria Rusticana» at the Gran Teatro. In 1995 he led a program with Gloria Estefan for the 50th anniversary of Pope John Paul II's ordination.

Pavarotti and Florida

From 1996 he was conductor and arranger of the «Pavarotti & Friends» concerts. That year he also became music director of the Greater Palm Beach Symphony and won the Soberano at the Premios Casandra. He conducted and arranged the inaugural program of the Carnival Performing Arts Center in Miami in 2006, and in 2007 the Concert Association of Florida named him music director and principal conductor of the Florida Symphony Orchestra and the Miami Pops.

Orquesta Sinfónica Nacional

In 2008 he became first guest conductor of the Orquesta Sinfónica Nacional, and in March 2009 its principal conductor. His recordings include «Caribbean Gems», a set of Dominican pieces made for the Ministry of Tourism, «Caribbean Treasures», recorded with the London Symphony Orchestra and Paquito D'Rivera, and «Fanfarria Novi Temporis». Leonard Slatkin conducted the world premiere of his «Obertura Yaya» at the Kennedy Center.

Honors

In 1996 the Dominican government named him cultural ambassador, and in 2001 he received the Orden de Duarte, Sánchez y Mella in the grade of Gran Cruz de Plata. He is professor emeritus of the Universidad Autónoma de Santo Domingo, holds an honorary doctorate from the Universidad Nacional Pedro Henríquez Ureña, and founded and presides over the Fundación Latinoamericana de Jóvenes Artistas.