Sonia Ivette Morales-Matos (b. 1961) is a Puerto Rican composer, performer, and educator who belongs to a family of distinguished musicians. She has a BM degree from Berklee College of Music, where she studied composition and jazz, and a MM degree in both Composition and Jazz Studies from Indiana University in Bloomington. While in Indiana University, she studied with distinguished professors such as David Baker, Juan Orrego-Salas, Claude Baker, and John Eaton. She was the 2016’s recipient of the Dr. Herman Hudson Alumnus Award presented by the African American Arts Institute of Indiana University for her excellence as an educator, performer, and composer. In June 2019, she received recognitions from the City of Santa Ana, the House of Representatives of the United States Congress, and the Mexican Consulate in Santa Ana, CA, for her participation in the “Latino Masters Concert” as a composer, performer, and educator, and for her contribution to the community of the City of Santa Ana, California, USA.
Some of her recent works are Tropical Overture (2022) commissioned by the
Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra, We All Shine, for children choir (2026) commissioned by the May Festival of Cincinnati, Fiesta No.2, for String Quartet with Percussion and String Orchestra and Percussion (2023), premiered by the Dali Quartet and the Lumos Orchestra, Fiesta No.3, for Orchestra (2024) premiered by the Symphony Orchestra of Puerto Rico, and Fiesta No. 4 for Wind Ensemble and Percussion (2023) premiered by the Wright State University Wind Symphony at the regional conference of the 2024 College Band Directors National Association in Ohio State University. Her composition titled “El Nino“, was premiered by the Cincinnati Symphony in March 2025 for their educational concert series, “Young People’s Concerts”. In late 2025, she had a residency in Towson University where she offered master classes to the composition students and collaborated with the orchestra, choir, and ballet programs. Her
composition “Canciones de amor y soledad” was premiered by The Whistling Hens during the Towson University’s Hispanic Music Festival. Many music critics have identified Mrs. Morales-Matos as one of the most promising female composers from Latin America. Sonia Ivette, originally from Puerto Rico, resides in Cincinnati, Ohio where she pursues her career as a composer, performer, and educator.
Sonia Morales-Matos’s new work for Contemporary Woodwind Quintet will be premiered by the 2027 Ensemble-in-Residence, Cirrus Blue, at our 2027 Festival in April 2027.