Alfonso Molina. Mexican composer of opera, orchestral music, chamber music, film music and other audiovisual arts. Molina makes use of expressive elements and techniques from the 20th and 21st Century, as well as Mexican folk influences and electronic sounds to compose music. His music is eclectic, energetic and diverse, also he has been described as an artivist (Activism and Art) composer.
His first opera, entitled Illegal Alien (2014), was described by the Boston Metro Opera (BMO), as an opera that “fosters awareness through both text and music” and deals with immigration issues like xenophobia and the right to private property. Recently in 2021 this opera was performed at the border wall between Mexico and the United States and was also conducted by the composer.
He obtained his Master of Music in Composition at the Manhattan School of Music, studying with Richard Danielpour and Marjorie Merryman. Simultaneously, he studied with Samuel Zyman from Juilliard. Prior to this, he studied postgraduate composition studies at the Mannes Conservatory at The New School of Music with Rudolph Palmer.
Molina holds a Doctorate of Musical Arts (D.M.A.) from the University of Arizona where
he studied with Daniel Asia. During this time he also did some postgraduate studies with Ladislav Kubik in the Czech Republic and later with Luis Verges in Barcelona, Spain.
Molina has been recipient of numerous awards, including ASCAP, The Boston Metro Opera (BMO), The Carolina Foundation, the National Fund for Culture and Arts of Mexico (FONCA-CONACYT) among others. His works have been performed in the United States, Mexico, Czech Republic, Spain among other places, by the Bratislava Symphony Orchestra (BSO), Manhattan School of Music’s Philharmonia Orchestra and and Jazz Philharmonic, The Mivos Quartet, AtonalHits, Associated Musicians from Create New York (AMF Local 802) /RMA, The Bellas Artes Chamber Orchestra (OCBA), The Sonora Symphonic Orchestra (OFS), the Czech Philharmonic Orchestra Chamber players and various soloists. His works also include soundtracks such as“De Nadie-Border Crossing (2006) Audience Award Winner at Sundance, Proof of Birth (2007) and others.
In 2019, Molina did a residency in Barcelona Spain, due to a scholarship from the Carolina Foundation, at the Cataluña's Superior School of Music (ESMUC), where he specialized in Musical Visual Arts. He is published by DONEMUS.