Carolina Flores
Associate Professor of Choral Music and Director of Choral Activities
Education
- DMA, Choral Conducting, The Hartt School, University of Hartford
- MM, Piano Performance, The Manhattan School of Music, New York
- BM, Piano Performance, The Manhattan School of Music, New York
- Degree in Music Education, The Superior Conservatory of Music; Zaragoza, Spain
- Degree in Piano Pedagogy, The Royal Superior Conservatory of Music; Madrid, Spain
Honors
- Excellence in Teaching Award, Connecticut State Community College, 2015
- Excellence in Teaching Award, National Institute for Staff and Organizational Development, 2016
- National Hispanic Heritage Employee Award, Connecticut State Community College, 2018
- Recipient of prizes in several national piano competitions
Performing
- Performed at Carnegie Hall’s Weill Recital Hall, Cami Hall, and Rockefeller Center
- Was a soloist with the Manhattan Symphony Orchestra
- Has sung with such exclusive ensembles as the Yale Camerata, Pro Arte Singers, and Voices of Concinnity
- Member of Concora (short for Connecticut Choral Artists), which is known as one of the premier musical forces in the state of Connecticut
- Directed international choral tours in Austria, Czech Republic, Hungary, Italy, and Spain
Carolina Flores Shapes the Next Generation of Musicians
Musically speaking, Carolina Flores D’08 wasted no time when she arrived in the United States from her native Spain in 1990. Almost immediately, she began a music career as a choral director at churches throughout New York City.
That career lasted 30 years—but is just one small movement of an entire score of activities that has not only defined her own life but, as an educator, has helped shape the lives of hundreds of students.
Today, Flores serves as associate professor of choral music and director of choral activities at UHart’s The Hartt School. She has previously taught at the Manchester campus of the Connecticut State Community College (CSCC), University of Rhode Island, and other institutions in the region.
“Teaching is a joy that comes through witnessing the growth of my students, the personal connections, and the continual learning that keeps me intellectually engaged,” Flores says. “Shaping the next generation of musicians is a joyful and gratifying responsibility.”
Flores received two music degrees at top conservatories in Spain, one in education and one in piano. She continued her musical training at the Manhattan School of Music (NY) in piano performance and at The Hartt School, where she earned her doctorate in musical arts (DMA) in choral conducting.
Precise timing may be essential for musical performances but, for a good reason, it did not work out with such precision on the road to her doctorate. “I hoped to complete it in three years,” she recalls, “but between balancing full-time studies, having a full-time church job, teaching undergraduate and graduate courses at Hartt, and raising a child, it took an extra three years.”
Did it matter? Not at all. Between the church work and the teaching, every day of those six years was filled with musical activity—far beyond specific DMA coursework.
Then, in 2023, Flores became interim director of choral activities at Hartt while still teaching full time at CSCC-Manchester and serving as the artistic chorale director of the Manchester Symphony Orchestra and Chorale.
She also continues to perform as a substitute organist at churches, which she thoroughly enjoys because it allows her to meet people from many different denominations, “and to experience a wide range of organs,” she adds enthusiastically.
“When I was 6 years old, I asked my parents for a piano,” she remembers. “They didn’t know all that much about music and thought I was simply asking for a toy. I think they believed it was a wish that would soon be forgotten. I was too young to enroll in a music conservatory, so they enrolled me instead at a local music school, where I began playing the organ. Two years later, I finally received a piano of my own.” Flores was a good enough player to convince her parents to give her formal piano training at a top music conservatory as soon as she turned 8 years of age.
After receiving a degree called a Grado Superior at the conservatory in Madrid, she was hit with the realization that there were no further options in Spain to continue the study of piano. Many skilled pianists sought such opportunities abroad. So did she.
Her several roles—teacher, conductor, performer—are deeply intertwined, she acknowledges, each fulfilling in its own way. “I experience joy through collaboration with musicians, whether it’s in rehearsal or during a performance,” Flores says. “Performing provides a sense of accomplishment and a way to engage and move people emotionally.”
She tells all her students that the fundamentals essential for a life or career in music include a strong work ethic, resilience, consistent and efficient practice, a willingness to learn, the ability to adapt, and a passion to share music with others. Other elements include embracing every opportunity to perform, exploring different genres and styles, enjoying the process as much as the results, and never shying away from vulnerabilities. “I tell them to think of music performance like a tapestry,” Flores explains. “The side we don’t see is filled with threads going in many directions, but the side we do see is a beautiful, cohesive scene.”
While most of the singers in her classes and groups are music majors, the ensembles with which Flores works are composed of students from diverse fields, such as psychology, communications, art, and acoustical engineering. “Many students tell me they look forward to choir rehearsals because they find them both fun and therapeutic,” she says. The choir ensembles are open to any University of Hartford student.
Carolina Flores, Associate Professor of Choral Music and Director of Choral Activities, The Hartt SchoolShaping the next generation of musicians is a joyful and gratifying responsibility.