Dr. José Maldonado is a Puerto Rican guitarist and educator based in NYC. He performs a diverse repertoire from the Renaissance to contemporary compositions, with a focus on Puerto Rican music. His expertise in Puerto Rican classical music has earned him invitations to perform concerts and master classes at institutions like Hunter College, Stony Brook University, Columbia University, the Conservatorio de Música de Puerto Rico, The Brooklyn Classical Guitar Society, and the Festival Internacional Ximénez Abril in Peru. An active chamber music performer, Maldonado co-founded Dúo Copla (Ernesto Ramos & José Maldonado), a classical guitar duo specializing in Puerto Rican music from the 19th century to the present. He is also the co-founder of Weiwei & José (Weiwei Zhai & José Maldonado), a guitar and piano duo that performs classical works from the Baroque to the present, along with Chinese and Puerto Rican music arrangements. Currently, Maldonado serves as the Director of Guitar Studies at Bloomingdale School of Music and holds a position as an Adjunct Associate Professor at John Jay College. He earned a Doctorate in Music from Stony Brook University and an MA in Arts Administration from Baruch College.