Maria Torres Melgares

Program Coordinator

(she/her)

Maria Torres Melgares has earned acclaim for her performances marked by "enticing passion and melancholic yearning" (Tuesday Musicale). A Spanish saxophonist deeply rooted in her Hispanic heritage, she thrives in musical endeavors that connect cultures and nationalities. Her debut album, recorded in July 2023 with her chamber group Flieben Duo, is the core of the upcoming documentary "Transatlantic Connection," recorded by DeCara Films, narrating her musical journey and the process of her CD recording.

As a soloist, she has collaborated with The Cleveland Orchestra as well as performed with the Long Island Concert Orchestra, Wichita Falls Symphony Orchestra, Symphonic Band of the Police of Public Security of Portugal, the String Orchestra of the University of Iowa, the New World Symphony, and the ICC String Orchestra. She has received over twenty international prizes in solo and chamber music competitions, including the 1st Prize in the Solo Collegiate Competition of the North American Saxophone Alliance 2024, the prize AIE from ACIMC Competition 2023, 1st Prize in the Vandoren Emerging Artists Competition 2022, 1st Prize in the VIII "Concurso Internacional de Saxofone Vitor Santos" (Portugal, 2021), and 1st Prize of the 94th Concours International Léopold Bellan (France, 2020), among others.

Currently based in Iowa City, Maria serves as the saxophone teaching assistant instructor at the University of Iowa, where she is also pursuing her Doctorate in Musical Arts in saxophone performance, chamber music entrepreneurship, and recording engineering, supported by the Güell Foundation. She is a graduate of the University of Michigan with a Master of Music degree in saxophone performance and certificates in Arts Entrepreneurship and Leadership, and in Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion. Previously, she earned her Bachelor’s Degree at the Conservatory of Liceu in Barcelona, Spain, with the support of the Fundació de Música Ferrer-Salat.

Authored by Maria Torres Melgares

“Mass Migrations: Personal Voices”: The Iowa Writing Model Crosses Borders to Empower Venezuelan Women in Uruguay

Thursday, April 23, 2026

Storytelling is intrinsic to the human experience. Since prehistoric times, we have made sense of our lives—and of ourselves—through narrative. Today, that enduring power of literature lies at the heart of “Mass Migrations: Personal Voices,” a research project co-funded by the Obermann Center for Advanced Studies at the University of Iowa and the Consortium of Humanities Centers and Institutes. This international collaboration brings together the University of Iowa and the Universidad de la República, Uruguay’s principal public university. Led by Luis Martín-Estudillo, director of the Obermann Center, and Fernando Ordóñez of the Universidad de la República, the project centers on a population both vulnerable and remarkably resilient: Venezuelan migrant women who have arrived in Montevideo, Uruguay, seeking refuge from an ongoing humanitarian crisis.

A Universe in the Ear

Monday, March 23, 2026

What does it mean to live with a sound that has no external source? For millions worldwide, this is the daily reality of tinnitus—a complex auditory symptom that can range from a minor annoyance to a deeply distressing condition. This "universe" of sound is the primary focus of Anna Carolina Marques Perrella de Barros, an audiologist and researcher from the Tinnitus and Sound Intolerance Group at the Universidade Federal de São Paulo in Brazil. Her pursuit of advanced clinical management strategies and research collaboration brought her to the University of Iowa this spring as an Obermann International Fellow. “Tinnitus is like a universe,” Barros explains. “The more you study it, the more you learn and encounter new variables. While it has been the subject of extensive research for a long time, there is still so much more to study.”

Beyond “Not Urban”: Andy Mink on Serving Rural Communities

Wednesday, February 4, 2026

As part of the 2025–2026 Obermann Symposium, Cultivating Rurality: Building Community around Rural Research (March 26–27), we’re excited to welcome Andy Mink, founding director of the Smithsonian’s Rural Initiative. In his keynote “More than ‘Not Urban’: Serving Rural Communities as Places and as People” on March 27, he'll explore how the Smithsonian is redefining itself as more than a destination in Washington, D.C., becoming a public service accessible to rural communities nationwide through collaborative, community-sourced partnerships that respond to local priorities and challenges. In advance of his visit, Obermann Program Coordinator Maria Torres Melgares spoke with Andy about his work and the ideas he’ll bring to the symposium.

maria-torresmelgares@uiowa.edu

319-335-4034