Director of Community Engagement | The Juilliard School

Dr. Adrian O. Rodriguez (He/Him/His) is an adminsitrator, educator, and conductor striving to widen the circle of community and inclusion in music and music education. He currently works at The Juilliard School where he enjoys reimagining education in the arts. As Director of Community Engagement, Adrian works with college students across artistic disciplines to (re)engage their artistry through educational programming, interactive performance, and teaching artistry. He is also on staff with the Music Advancement Program (MAP) in Juilliard’s Preparatory Division, developing innovative curricula to ensure the holistic progress of young people from communities and demographics underrepresented in classical music. Additionally, Adrian serves on music faculty in the College Division as founding director of the Juilliard Community Chorus—a chorus for faculty, staff, and students—and in the Preparatory Division as MAP Chorus Director. In Fall 2022, he led the MAP and Pre-College choruses in preparation performance with the New York Philharmonic at the opening gala for the newly renovated David Geffen Hall. 

Over the course of a decade in Houston, Texas, Adrian served in several capacities in the public education sphere, including teaching choirs and music courses, chair of fine arts, and curriculum development. Adrian also led community choral music ensembles, including as founding director of the Fort Bend Symphony Orchestra Chorus, Associate Conductor of International Voices Houston multicultural choir, and Director of Music for Emerson Unitarian Universalist Church. 

Adrian is currently a doctoral candidate at Teachers College, Columbia University, where he draws on interdisciplinary studies to explore how values and ideals interact to shape music institutions, communities, and leaders. He received his Bachelor of Music in Music Education from the University of Houston and his Master of Music Education in Choral Pedagogy from the Westminster Choir College (Princeton, NJ).