Dr. Mel Mobley teaches percussion, music theory, and music composition at the University of Louisiana at Monroe. Director of the ULM New Music Ensemble, Mel has long been an advocate for new music. He has been involved as a performer and/or composer with many contemporary music festivals around the country including BONK, FunNewMusic, and the SEAMUS Convention. Recent commissions include a marimba/percussion concerto for the Monroe Symphony and a piece for percussion trio with piano for the regional percussion group, Three-Headed Monster. His current work focuses on the combination of electronic audio, video and acoustic performance. Recent premieres include ...of God waiting... and Peaces of Earth and Science.

As a percussionist, Dr. Mobley has performed with groups as diverse as The Florida Orchestra and the I-Pan steel drum band. He is currently the principal of the Monroe Symphony Orchestra and a regular performer with the Shreveport Symphony and the Longview Symphony.