Néstor Torres is a jazz flautist born in Mayaguez, Puerto Rico, in 1957. He took flute lessons at age 12 and began formal studies at the Escuela Libre de Música, eventually attending Puerto Rico’s Inter-American University. At 18, he moved to New York with his family. Torres went on to study both jazz and classical music at the Mannes College of Music in New York and the New England Conservatory of Music in Boston, among other places.
Torres is also a practitioner of Nichiren Buddhism and a longtime member of the Buddhist association Soka Gakkai International.
In 2007, Torres played at the World Music Concert during One World Week 2007 at the University of Warwick.
In 2010, Torres joined the faculty of Florida International University as a visiting guest artist and founding director of its School of Music's first charanga ensemble.
On March 21, 2009, he played in Herbst Theatre in San Francisco in performance "Tango Meets Jazz" with Pablo Ziegler.
On September 9, 2009, he played at the Greek Theatre (Los Angeles) with the Dave Matthews Band. He guested on the song "Lying In The Hands Of God." He performed at the 2010 Central American and Caribbean Games opening ceremony.