Elias Rodriguez, clarinetist.

Mexican-American clarinetist Elias Rodriguez made his national solo debut in his fifth year of clarinet studies, at the age of 16, after performing on a live broadcast of NPR’s “From the Top.” He is an alumnus of The Orchestra Now, a distinguished pre-professional orchestra comprised of graduate musicians from around the world as well as a recipient of a three year full-tuition scholarship to Bard College, where he completed a Master’s Degree in Curatorial, Critical and Performance Studies in 2018.

He has been invited to perform in international music festivals including the American Wind Symphony Orchestra, Vermont Mozart Festival, The Banff Centre (Canada), Le Domaine Forget (Canada), L’Orchestre de la Francophonie (Canada), Orchestra of the Americas, the Bard Music Festival, and the Grafanegg Festival (Austria). He won first prize in The Orchestra Now’s first annual concerto competition, was named a semi-finalist in the 2017 Matthew Ruggiero International Clarinet Competition, and a finalist in the 2016 Phoenix Symphony clarinet audition.

He has performed in historic New York City venues such as Carnegie Hall, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, and Lincoln Center, and even less conventional venues, such as a state prison facility, through the Bard Prison Initiative (BPI). His recent performance of Carl Maria von Weber’s 1st Clarinet Concerto aired on WMHT New York and was praised for its “smooth acrobatic tone, fierce finesse,” and “virtuosic dynamics.” He can additionally be heard on the Hyperion Records label, alongside Australian pianist Piers Lane and The Orchestra Now.

Elias is a recipient of the 2018-2019 Harriet Hale Woolley Scholarship and was awarded an artist residency at the Fondation des États-Unis in Paris, France. Elias is a fluent English, Spanish, and French speaker.

He has participated in masterclasses with Yehuda Gilad, Alessandro Carbonare, Joaquin Valdepeñas, Wenzel Fuchs, Jonathan Cohler, Frank Cohen, and he has collaborated with artists like concert pianist Christopher O' Riley, Philippe Bernold of the Paris Conservatory, and American violinist and composer, Mark O' Connor.

Elias holds a Bachelor's Degree in Music Education from Baylor University in Waco, Texas, where his principal clarinet teacher was Dr. Richard Shanley, and a Master of Music from The University of Michigan, in Ann Arbor, Michigan, where he was a student of Professor Chad Burrow.

Other significant teachers who have shaped Elias' musicianship and clarinet playing include: Jeff Garcia, Dr. Tom Shine, Mrs. Verda Shine, Dr. Vanguel Tangarov, Dr. Jun Qian, Prof. Alan Olson, Pavel Vinnitsky, and Pascual-Martinez Forteza.

Elias has previously held the positions of Associate Director of Bands for the Mesquite Independent School District in Mesquite, Texas, and Clarinet Instructor for the Bard College Conservatory of Music Summer Music Academy.