Raquel Rodriquez
is Assistant Professor of Trumpet at Northern Kentucky University in Highland Heights, Kentucky beginning in the Fall 2009 academic year. Prior to her appointment, Dr. Rodriquez served on the faculties of Washburn University in Topeka, KS and Southeastern Oklahoma State University.
Raquel has a versatile performance background. In her youth, Raquel was a member of the 1992 Star of Indiana Drum and Bugle Corps. In 1994, this organization left the marching fields for the concert stage and became a show called Brass Theater. This organization had successful touring summers with the renowned Canadian Brass. Raquel was a performing member of Brass Theater in 1995-96 and 1998. During this time she performed in the Hollywood Bowl, Tanglewood, Wolf Trap, Interlochen, Blossom, Ravinia, and the Mostly Mozart Festival at Lincoln Center. She also recorded a CD with the Canadian Brass (Brass Theater II) as well as a PBS special that was nationally aired in 1996. This organization went through another rebirth and became a show called Blast!. Raquel was a member of the original London Cast. Raquel, an avid fan of the Drum and Bugle activity, will perform in the 2010 DCI Championships as a member of the Star of Indiana Alumni Corps. She will also compete as a member of Star United, a 21 piece mini drum and bugle corps, in the mini corps category of the 2009 Drum Corps Associates' (DCA) Individual & Ensemble competition.
Raquel is an advocate of the Brass Band movement in North America as an educator and performer. She was a member of the solo cornet section of the award-winning Fountain City Brass Band, a traditional British-style brass band based in Kansas City, from 2006-2008. During this period the ensemble won 3 national titles and became one of the premiere brass bands in North America. Raquel is an award-winning cornet player having recently won the 2007 NABBA high brass technical solo competition, Best Cornet and Best Solo Performance Awards at the 2007 US Open Brass Band Championships, and 2008 National Trumpet Competition finalist (runner-up) and award winner of the 19th Century Cornet Competition in the Historical Division. Raquel is a performing member of the Cincinnati Brass Band and Athena Brass Band, an all-female brass band comprised of professional brass musicians from around the country.
Raquel was a performing member of the internationally known Synergy Brass Quintet in their 2008-09 national tour. As a member of SBQ, she performed in over 200 concerts and clinics across the nation. Raquel was also frequently featured as a soloist with SBQ performing the Carnival of Venice by J.B. Arban. As an orchestral musician Raquel has performed with many regional orchestras in Texas, the Sunflower Music Festival Orchestra, Aspen Festival Orchestra, and the Kansas City Symphony. Raquel has been featured as a trumpet/cornet artist and clinician with various orchestras, universities, high school bands, brass bands, and music conferences throughout the United States, England, and China. Dr. Rodriquez is a Conn-Selmer artist and performs exclusively on Bach Trumpets and the Conn Vintage One flugelhorn.
Dr. Rodriquez received her BM and MA degrees from West Texas A&M University and DMA degree in trumpet performance at the University of North Texas. Her former teachers include Dave Ritter, John Holt, and Keith Johnson.
