TBJ90: New Seraph Brass trumpeter Raquel Rodriquez on her new gig at UNT, traveling to the Lieksa Brass Week and recovering from a chop sunburn.
Raquel Rodriquez is the newly appointed Assistant Professor of Trumpet at the University of North Texas (Fall of 2018). Prior to that, she was the Assistant Professor of Trumpet at Tennessee Tech University. Dr. Rodriquez maintains a versatile career as a performing artist, clinician, educator, and scholar. She has performed throughout China, Europe, the United Kingdom, Australia, and the United States. Raquel is a member of Seraph Brass, a brass quintet comprised of top female brass players in North America. The group performs frequently around the country and abroad.
In this fun and lively discussion, we cover:
- Sunburn
- How her kindergarten teacher (Mrs. Hogan, from Kermit, Texas) re-routed the pronunciation of her name
- Growing up in west Texas
- Starting on trumpet in beginner band, getting into in high school marching band
- Her band director got her taking lessons, even drove her there, listening to great brass recordings along the way
- Growing up in a small Texas town
- The influence of great music teachers
- Getting a degree in music education and the influence of DCI and marching bands
- Marching with Star of Indiana/Brass Theater/Blast
- Getting her doctorate at UNT
- The transition from Star of Indiana to Brass Theater to Blast
- Performance anxiety
- Lance's beta-blocker rant
- "Trumpet players are neurotic"
- "All trumpet players are glory hounds"
- Heading to the Lieksa Brass Week in Finland with Seraph Brass, a sextet
- The difficulty of balancing busy schedules with playing chamber music
- ITG in 2019 with Seraph (as a sextet) in Miami
- Her new gig as Assistant Professor of Trumpet at UNT, along with Caleb Hudson and John Holt (on the classical side)
LINKS:
Want to help the show? Here are some ways:
- Help others find the show by leaving a rating and review on iTunes.
- Show us some love on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter.
- Help us pay the bills (and get regular bonus episodes!) by becoming a Patreon patron.
- Show some love to our sponsors: The brass program at The Mary Pappert School of Music at Duquesne University and Parker Mouthpieces (including the Andrew Hitz and Lance LaDuke models.)
- Tell your friends!
Expertly produced by Will Houchin with love, care, and enthusiasm.