Alfonso Molina is a Mexican composer of opera, orchestral, chamber, and film music, as well as other audiovisual works. His music is known for its eclecticism, energy, and expressive diversity, blending elements of 20th- and 21st-century composition with Mexican folk traditions and electronic soundscapes.

Molina has been the recipient of numerous prestigious grants and fellowships, including awards from the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers (ASCAP), Columbia University, the National System of Art Creators (SNCA), FONCA–CONACYT, and the Carolina Foundation, among others.

His opera Illegal Alien (2014) was praised by the Boston Metro Opera as a work that “raises awareness through text and music.” Addressing themes of immigration, xenophobia, and the right to private property, the opera was performed in 2021 at the U.S.–Mexico border wall under Molina’s direction and has since been presented in multiple Mexican opera venues. His Mexican-American musical Monarca—which draws a parallel between the migration of monarch butterflies and human migration to the United States—was invited to Harvard University, becoming the first musical to explore this theme. Monarca was presented at Paine Hall and later received the awards for Best Musical and Best New Musical at the 2024 BroadwayWorld DC Awards.

Molina studied composition at The New School for Music, earned his master’s degree from the Manhattan School of Music under Richard Danielpour, and completed his doctorate at the University of Arizona. In 2019, he undertook an artistic residency in Barcelona, Spain, specializing in audiovisual arts at the National School of Music of Catalonia (ESMUC) through a Carolina Foundation grant. He has also studied with Samuel Zyman (Juilliard), Ladislav Kubík (Florida State University), and Luis Vergés (ESMUC).

His works have been performed across Mexico, Spain, the Czech Republic, the Netherlands, Slovakia, and the United States by ensembles such as the Bratislava Symphony Orchestra, MSM Philharmonia, Jazz Philharmonic, Mivos Quartet, AtonalHits, Associated Musicians of Greater New York (AMF Local 802/RMA), the Bellas Artes Chamber Orchestra (OCBA), the Arcano Quartet, and members of the Czech Philharmonic Orchestra.

Molina’s film credits include the score for De Nadie (Border Crossing), which won the 2006 Audience Award at the Sundance Film Festival and the Ariel Award in Mexico, Proof of Birth (Raleigh Studios, Hollywood), and La Patrona, an official selection at the Cannes Film Festival.

He currently serves as Coordinator of the Composition Concentration at the Monterrey Institute of Technology in Querétaro, Mexico.