CCAYO Assistant Director Melissa Melendez is a member of the Islander String Trio at Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi (A&M-Corpus Christi), principal violist for the Victoria Symphony, principal violist for the Kingsville Symphony and member of the Corpus Christi Symphony. Melendez is also the Director of the Suzuki Program at the A&M-Corpus Christi Blanche Davis Moore Early Childhood Development Center.

Melendez has performed with the University of Arizona Symphony Orchestra as the 2004 winner of the President’s Competition held at the University of Arizona, in addition to the Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi String Orchestra, the Kingsville Symphony and the Balcones Symphony in Austin. In 2012, Melendez was featured in the world premiere of Venezuelan composer Gonzalos Castellano’s Concerto for Viola and Orchestra with the Carabobo Symphony in Venezuela.

Melendez holds a Bachelor’s in Music from Louisiana State University, a Master’s in Music from The Cleveland Institute of Music, an Artist Diploma from Duquesne University and a Doctorate in Musical Arts from the University of Arizona.

Assistant Director

Dr. Jose Flores is a great advocate of orchestral music education, an accomplished professional musician and an experienced orchestral conductor. He is the Director of Orchestral Studies at Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi and he has been professor of violin and viola at the university since 2006. Dr. Flores is on the faculty of Youth Classics Master Classes in Europe, where he teaches violin and viola and coaches chamber music ensembles. He serves as permanent guest faculty for the Academia Latino Americana de Violin (Latin-American Violin Academy). As one of the pioneer teachers in El Sistema, Dr. Flores taught in a program which today transforms the lives of more than 500,000 of Venezuela’s most vulnerable children by giving them the chance to excel as young musicians.

He enjoys a performance career spanning six countries including South Korea, Italy, Germany, Mexico, Venezuela and the United States. In 2012 he appeared at Carnegie Hall’s Weill Recital in a performance with Dragonov and Friends. Here in Corpus Christi, he is a violinist in the Corpus Christi Symphony Orchestra. In addition to many other solo and recital performances, he regularly performs as a chamber musician with the Islander String Players.

Dr. Flores holds a Doctor of Musical Arts degree from the University of Arizona. He also holds a Master of Music and a Bachelor of Music from the Aaron Copeland School of Music in New York. The 2016-17 season marks the eighth year Dr. Flores has served as Director of the Corpus Christi Area Youth Orchestra.

Director

Dr. Jose Flores

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Youth Orchestra Directors

Meet our

Melissa Melendez

Dr. Carrie Pierce is the Associate Professor of Cello at Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi. Equally at home in chamber, orchestral, and solo settings, she brings her innate musicianship to every genre with a warm, resonant, all-encompassing sound. With an engaging musical personality, Carrie enjoys connecting with audiences of all ages and backgrounds.

Dr. Pierce is the principal cellist of the Victoria Symphony in Victoria, Texas, and assistant principal of the Corpus Christi Symphony. She is also a founding member of Drumpetello, an innovative chamber ensemble composed of cello, percussion, and trumpet. Drumpetello has received over $50,000 in grant funds and has commissioned many new works by composers around the country.

As a teacher, Dr. Pierce is adept at teaching levels of cellists. Her students have received numerous accolades and awards, including winning spots in the prestigious NYO2 festival, first chairs in the UIL All-State orchestra (Texas), and first place in the San Antonio Youth Concerto competition, which included a concerto performance with the San Antonio Symphony. She is a Suzuki certified teacher and plans on pursuing her teacher trainer certificate with future plans of opening a Suzuki center at TAMUCC. When she is not teaching or playing she is spending time with her wonderful husband Jeff and newly added member of the family, her puppy Luka.

Cello choir conductor

carrie pierce