B.M. Instituto Universitario de Estudios Musicales (Caracas, Venezuela); M.M. James Madison University; M.A. and Ph.D. in Historical Musicology at the University of Pittsburgh.

Pedro Aponte's areas of research include Latin American art music, musical nationalism, music in society, and cultural studies. A recipient of the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation Field Research Grant (2000) and the Tinker Foundation, Inc. Field Trip Grant (2003), Dr. Aponte has presented his research at various conferences including the American Musicological Society, the Society for Ethnomusicology, and the Latin American Studies Association. He has published in scholarly journals such as Intercultural Musicology and International Jazz Archives Journal.

Dr. Aponte is a former member of the Gran Mariscal de Ayacucho Symphony Orchestra in Caracas, Venezuela, where he played flute and piccolo for six years. In the U.S. he has played with the Roanoke and Altoona Symphony Orchestras. Dr. Aponte is also an active performer of historical flutes and early music.