About Us

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Orchestra Teacher 

Sergio  Rodriguez has been teaching orchestra in the United States since 1997.  He has been appointed as the new orchestra director at M. Jackson High  School. Previously, he was the orchestra's director at Grady High School  in Atlanta, where he also taught guitar and music appreciation. His  orchestra program has been recognized by the Georgia Music Educators  Association with superior ratings for outstanding performances.  Recently, the orchestra under his leadership performed at Carnegie Hall,  and has been selected to perform at the prestigious American String  Teacher Association National Orchestra Festival (ASTA). Mr. Rodriguez  was named Best Teacher of The Year by the Atlanta Family Award for Excellence in Education ,and was promoted to Lead Master Teacher for all Atlanta Public Schools orchestra programs.(2009-2017)

Mr. Rodriguez is native of San Pedro Sula, Honduras.  He began his music studies in violin at the Victoríano López Music  School. In 1986 Rodriguez was invited to the United States by the  Vermont Symphony Orchestra. He continued his musical education at  Southeastern Louisiana University, the University of Kentucky and the  Longy School of Music, MA. 

As an educator,  he taught violin, viola, chamber music and music theory in Honduras at  such institutions as the the Magnet School for Music and Children of the  Carl Orff System, the National School of Music, the National  Conservatory of Music Francisco Dias Zelaya and Honduras National  University. In the United States, he has also taught strings at  Southeastern Louisiana University and the Acadiana Conservatory of Music  in Lafayette, Louisiana. 

In Georgia, the Mundo Hispániconewspaper  recognized Mr. Rodriguez as one of ten outstanding Hispanic citizens of  the community (Héroes de nuestra comunidad) for his dedicated work with  Latino children.

As conductor,  Sergio Rodriguez has directed the Southeastern Louisiana University  String Orchestra, Acadiana Symphony Youth Orchestra and Southwestern  Louisiana University Orchestra. He founded the National Youth Chamber  Orchestra in Tegucigalpa. During the summer of 1998 he received a  conductor fellowship at the South Carolina Conductor’s Institute. He has  served as guest conductor for the Atlanta Community Orchestra, Buckhead  Chamber Orchestra and Honduras Philharmonic and in 2011 was a  conducting fellow at the Bard Conservatory, NY. His conducting teachers  include Donald Portnoy, Adrian Gnam, Harold Faberman, Apo Hsu,Gregory  Pritchard, Kirk Muspratt, Samuel Jones, Paul Vernel, Juan Ramirez,  Sandra Dakow, Raymond Harvey, Eduardo Navega, Kate Tamrking, and Leon  Botstein.

He won first  prize as conductor of the first Children’s Chorus Competition in San  Pedro Sula, Honduras, and was awarded diplomas of achievement from the  National School of Music and the Honduras Ministry of Culture. He has  also won prizes at the Music in the Parks Festival in Florida. He is  founder and conductor of the Dougherty County (Ga.) Youth Symphony  Orchestra. As a violinist, Mr. Rodriguez performs regularly with the Atlanta Virtuosi, and the  symphonies of Valdosta, Macon and Albany (Ga.). He has performed with  the Honduras National University Chamber Orchestra (concertmaster),  Central American Youth Symphony Orchestra, Baton Rouge Symphony,  Lexington Philharmonic, Hanover Chamber Orchestra, New England  Philharmonic, Dartmouth Symphony, Honduras National Symphony Orchestra  and Harvard-Radcliffe Orchestra (Southeast Asia tour).  Mr. Rodriguez also toured to Puerto Rico with the Atlanta Virtuosi. He  has given recitals in Honduras and the U.S. He has appeared at music  festivals such as the Central American Youth Symphony Orchestra  Festival, Costa Rica Music Festival, Honduras Music Festival and  Chautauqua Music Festival. He was artist-in-residence at Chalmette  Discovery Summer Program in Louisiana.

Mr. Rodriguez published articles about the Honduran musical environment in the newspaper El Heraldo and his own column in El Periodico. He continues to write as a music critic for his home country papers.

As a composer, Sergio  Rodriguez has written music for chamber orchestra, as well as  childrens’ musicals and arrangements of Honduran music. Sibelius Music  Company has published his compositions at 

https://www.jwpepper.com/myscore/SRodriguez

Mr. Rodriguez resides in Alpharetta, married to Silvia and has three children; Sergito, Arianna and Yazmin

THE JACKSON HIGH SCHOOL ORCHESTRAS

Students  audition for the director in the spring and then again in the middle of  the year for placement in the different orchestras. Placement in each  orchestra is not based on age, or year in school, but ability,  discipline and attitude. The more experienced players will participate  in the Intermediate Chamber Orchestra (String Chamber Orchestra II) and  Advanced Chamber Orchestra (Philharmonic) while those who need to gain  more experience will continue in the First Level Orchestra (String  Chamber Orchestra I) and will perform in concerts. All of Jackson's  orchestras maintain busy schedules and every group will have plenty of  performance opportunities. Some of the concerts will use the combined Festival Orchestras featuring all of the orchestras performing together, as well as utilizing members of the Symphonic Band.

STRING CHAMBER ORCHESTRA I

This  orchestra is made up-mostly- of freshman students who were in orchestra  at the middle school and are eager to develop high skills of  performance. Performances will usually be combined with the Intermediate  Orchestra. The orchestra will participate at All-State, District Honor  Orchestra, and perform at GMEA Solo and Ensemble Festival.

STRING CHAMBER ORCHESTRA II

This  orchestra is primarily for students who already have some skill and  experience and need to be playing at higher level, before being placed  in an advanced group. We will concentrate on developing proper technique  for each individual instrument and improving as musicians.

Performances  will usually be combined with the String Orchestra I at the end of each  semester. The director will make the final decision on which group a  student will be in. The orchestra will participate at All-State,  District Honor Orchestra, and perform at GMEA Solo and Ensemble  Festival.

PHILHARMONIC ORCHESTRA

This  group is the more advanced ensemble, and placement is determined by  audition. The Philharmonic Orchestra is usually a smaller ensemble than  the Chamber Orchestras, and it should be seen as an honor to be placed  in this group. We concentrate on musicianship and ensemble development  as opposed to individual work on specific instruments. This group plays  more difficult music which requires more time and discipline outside of  class. Many students in this group study privately outside of school and  audition for All-State, District Honor Orchestra, and perform at GMEA  Solo and Ensemble Festival.