Mrs. Rodriguez Biography
2015 Canutillo I.S.D. Elementary Teacher of the Year
Ms. Rocio Rodriguez holds a Bachelor of Music on Voice Performance from the University of Texas at El Paso in 2007. She is currently pursuing the Master's degree in Music Education at the University of Florida. Ms. Rodriguez is an active member of the El Paso Choral Society under the direction of Mr. Prentice Loftin. Performances with this group include concerts with the El Paso, Juarez, and Las Cruces Symphony Orchestras. She participated at three opera productions with the El Paso Opera which include: Aida, Il Trittico, and Il Trovatore. Her teachers include Dr. Cynthia Jay (Choir Director of the Young El Paso Singers), Dr. Christopher Meerdink and Ms. Marciem Bazell (+). While she was a college student, she participated at several productions with the UTEP Music Theater Company. These include zarzuela, opera, and music theater productions, some of the under the direction of Dr. Hugh Cardon (+). She also performed in the opera Suor Angelica from Il Trittico singing the main role in 2006. She has participated with the New Mexico State University Opera Company.
As a Music Educator, she currently teaches at Canutillo Independent School District. In 2015, Ms. Rodriguez received the honor to be the Canutillo I.S.D. Elementary Teacher of the Year, proudly representing the district at the regional level. She has been a Music Teacher and Choir Director at Jose Damian Elementary School and currently teaches at Reyes Elementary School. She created the JDE and RES choirs. R.E.S. Chamber Choir is comprised of 4th and 5th grade students who go through a rigorous audition process in order to be selected. Both J.D.E. and R.E.S. Chamber Choirs are award-winning groups. J.D.E. choir got a Gold Award at the World Strides© Heritage Music Festival in Anaheim, California in 2013 and 2016. Recently, R.E.S. choir got a gold award at the same festival in May 2018. Additionally, Ms. Rodriguez has collaborated with the Canutillo High School choral department by providing voice lessons for Solo & Ensemble Contests. She is a former choir director of the El Paso Youth Choir, Da Vinci School for Science and the Arts, and taught voice lessons at the Universidad Autónoma de Ciudad Juárez. Ms. Rodriguez is an active member of the Texas Music Educators Association, and the Texas Classroom Teachers Association. In addition, she attended vocal pedagogy workshops at the Texas Woman’s University in 2013 and 2015. In 2014, Ms. Rodriguez sponsored a Summer Choir Camp with the U.T.E.P. Professional and Public Programs. She has been a private teacher for more than ten years, teaching voice, piano, and guitar lessons in El Paso, and Juarez.
As a professional soloist, Ms. Rodriguez participated at the Recital Series Jóvenes Intérpretes sponsored by the Mexican Institute of Fine Arts and the Juarez Museum of Art. She was a soloist for three years at St. Paul’s Lutheran Church. In 2014, she performed as a soloist at the Mozart’s Coronation Mass in Juarez and El Paso with the El Paso Chamber Choir. Ms. Rodriguez has participated in two master classes with baritone Gordon Hawkins and former New England Conservatory faculty member, Dr. James McDonald. In addition, she performs regularly with the Motiff Music Ensemble, and at her church Centro Cristiano Roca Fuerte. Ms. Rodriguez is married to Mr. Christian E. Rodriguez, a Band Director at Canutillo Middle School and both have two beautiful children.