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Jill Rodriguez

Jill Rodríguez
Jill Smith Rodriguez

Jill Rodriguez joins the faculty of Texas State University as Lecturer of Horn. As an active musician for more than 30 years, she is currently Third/Assistant Principal Horn with the Austin Opera Orchestra and Second Horn with the Bear Valley Music Festival and the Victoria Bach Festival. Ms. Rodriguez is also a regular substitute with the Austin Symphony Orchestra. She began her performing career in 1990 when she won the Third Horn position with the Dallas Opera Orchestra. Other performance credits include the San Antonio Symphony, San Antonio Philharmonic, Mid-Texas Symphony, Breckenridge Music Festival, Ft. Worth Symphony, Waco Symphony and many others. Ms. Rodriguez has also performed around the globe in England, France, Switzerland, Italy and Germany with various orchestras.

Ms. Rodriguez has vast chamber music experience as well. During her time in Dallas, she was a member of the Reunion Brass Quintet, a featured artist with Young Audiences of Greater Dallas bringing the arts into elementary schools all around the metroplex. She has also performed with Pinnacle Brass and Capitol of Texas Brass in the Austin area and the River Oaks Chamber Orchestra Brass Quintet, Houston.

She currently holds the position of Lecturer of General Music at Texas Lutheran University where she has taught for 26 years and maintains a studio of horn students in the New Braunfels Independent School District. Ms. Rodriguez has taught at Texas State University in the past and is excited to be returning.

Ms. Rodriguez can be heard on the recordings of Spy Kids 2: The Island of Lost Dreams (2002) and Russell Cook on Classical Journeys: Going Home (1994).

Ms. Rodriguez holds a MM degree in Horn Performance, Musicology minor from the University of North Texas and BM degrees in Horn Performance and Music Education from DePauw University (Greencastle, IN). She is also an alumna of Interlochen Center for the Arts (Michigan).

She has studied privately with William Scharnberg (UNT), Gregory Hustis and David Battey (Dallas Symphony Orchestra), Larry Philpott (Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra), Philip Farkas (Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Indiana University), Douglas Campbell (Michigan State University). Ms. Rodriguez has performed with artists such as Cecilia Bartoli, Samuel Ramey, Ruth Ann Swensen, Luciano Pavarotti, Andrea Bocelli, the Moody Blues, Don McLean, Glen Campbell and many more.