Dr. Frances Colón has been recognized as a distinguished figure in Puerto Rican music, having achieved the highest distinctions as a teacher and performer. She completed her Doctoral Degree in music in from the prestigious University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. That meant she was the first oboist in Puerto Rico to achieve a Doctorate in that instrument. To this achievement may be added others as a performer and teacher. She was the first Puerto Rican woman to be named as principal oboe of the Puerto Rico Symphony Orchestra. She was also the first oboist to commission works by Puerto Rican composers for oboe and orchestra, and the first oboist to establish a nonprofit foundation to further the teaching of oboe on the island.

In addition to her achievements as a musician which include many performances as a soloist within and outside Puerto Rico, one may add her merits in teaching. For over a decade she was the professor of oboe at the Puerto Rico Conservatory of Music. Due to her teaching and the work of her foundation, a new generation of Puerto Rican oboists has developed. By means of her innovative project, Oboe Mobile in the Community, she has been able to make available teaching resources in those areas of the island which do not have an oboe teacher; and through the Oboe Bank, her foundation has been able to provide instruments to talented, young, economically-marginalized students in order for them to pursue their oboe studies. 

Dr. Colón commissioned and performed the premier of the first work for oboe and orchestra by the Puerto Rican composer, Roberto Sierra. In addition, she was invited to record this work, Poema y Danza, dedicated to her by Roberto Sierra, along with the internationally famed oboist Dr. Nancy Ambrose King, with the Prague Chamber orchestra. She also commissioned a Concerto Suite for oboe and orchestra entitled Tres Bocetos Criollos by the distinguished Puerto Rican composer, Ernesto Cordero. This work was given its world premiere by Dr. Frances Colón together with the Puerto Rico Symphony in 2016.

Dr. Colón was asked to be a member of the panel of judges, made up of distinguished international oboists, for the Fernand Gillet Competition sponsored by the International Double Reed Society. She has been honored by the Free School of Music Ernesto Ramos Antonini for her professional achievements and has received recognition from the Armed Forces Music School of the United States for, “outstanding instrumental and academic achievement”. She was also qualified as Oboe Instructor by the music school of The United States Navy.

Frances Colón graduated from the Free School of Music of San Juan where she studied with Rafael Martinez. She completed her bachelor’s degree, magna cumme laude at the Puerto Rico Conservatory of Music where she studied with David Bourns and Harry Rosario. She obtained her master’s degree at the University of Central Florida in music education and continued graduate studies with Richard Kilmer at the Eastman School of Music. She obtained her Doctoral Degree at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign under Dr. Nancy Ambrose King.