Dr. José Gabriel Maldonado Suárez is a musician, arts administrator, and educator from Puerto Rico based in New York City. His classical guitar solo and chamber music repertoire spans works from the Renaissance to contemporary music, with a strong emphasis on music from Puerto Rico and the Caribbean. José is co-founder of Dúo Copla, a classical guitar duo that focuses on performing, arranging, and recording works by Puerto Rican composers. He is also co-founder of Weiwei & José, a classical guitar and piano duo that explores Baroque, Classical, and Romantic Era repertoire, with additional influences from Puerto Rican and Chinese folk traditions.

As an arts administrator, Dr. Maldonado Suárez curates events that celebrate diverse voices from underrepresented communities in the classical music field. He has served as an Audience Development and Engagement Consultant for the Brooklyn Classical Guitar Society and was invited to contribute his expertise as a member of the Advisory Council: Building Equity for BIPOC Artists at the Jamaica Center for Arts & Learning in Queens, NY. Additionally, he was selected to join the 2023 inaugural cohort of the Association of Arts Administration Educators (AAAE) Mentorship Program.

Currently, Dr. Maldonado Suárez is the Director of Guitar Studies at the Bloomingdale School of Music (BSM), where he teaches classical guitar students, coaches chamber music ensembles, and curates all public programming for the department. José has been the Artistic Director of the BSM Guitar Festival since 2013. This annual festival features an international guest artist who engages with the BSM community through a master class and a concert, alongside performances by faculty and students. Simultaneously, he is on the faculty in the Department of Art & Music at John Jay College, part of The City University of New York (CUNY), where he teaches guitar performance and music history, and curates music performances and lectures for the academic community.

Dr. Maldonado holds a Doctor of Musical Arts degree (DMA) and a Master of Music (MM) from Stony Brook University. Additionally, he holds a Master of Arts (MA) in Arts Administration from Baruch College and a Bachelor of Music (BM) from the Conservatorio de Música de Puerto Rico.