Dr. Robert Xavier Rodríguez
- Professor of Music
- Chair of Art and Aesthetic Studies
Mrs. Eugene McDermott’s donation created the chair in August 2000, and Rodríguez was appointed in September 2007. The chair supports the scholarly, educational, artistic, university and community services activities.
“I was among the first arts and humanities faculty at UT Dallas in 1975. My students and colleagues have brought me many joys, especially the former students who have kept in touch over the past years. I have particularly enjoyed the opportunity to make music on campus with my Musica Nova ensemble and to have several of my works performed and sometimes premiered here.”
Dr. Robert Xavier Rodríguez, who joined The University of Texas at Dallas faculty in 1975, directs Musica Nova, the University’s advanced orchestra/chamber music ensemble.
Rodríguez has been called “one of the major American composers of his generation” by Texas Monthly. His music has been described as “romantically dramatic” by The Washington Post, “richly lyrical” by Musical America, and “glowing with a physical animation and delicate balance of moods that combine seductively with his all-encompassing sense of humor” by the Los Angeles Times.
His music has been featured in more than 2,000 performances in recent seasons by the New York City Opera, the Brooklyn Academy of Music, the Dallas Opera, the Houston Grand Opera, and the Boston and Chicago symphony orchestras. Rodríguez received his early musical education in San Antonio, Texas; UT Austin, the University of Southern California, the Tanglewood Music Center in Massachusetts; the Conservatoire Americain in Fontainebleau, France; and Paris.
Rodríguez first gained international recognition in 1971 when he was awarded the Prix de Composition Musicale from the Prince Pierre of Monaco Foundation. Other honors include the Prix Lili Boulanger from the University of Massachusetts Boston; a Guggenheim Fellowship; awards from The American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers; five National Education Association grants; and a Goddard Lieberson Fellowship from the American Academy of Arts and Letters. Rodríguez received an Aaron Copland House Residency Award in 2011-2012.
He has recorded more than 20 albums featuring his own compositions, which earned him a Grammy Award nomination in 1999. His catalog of more than 146 original works is published by G. Schirmer Inc. He has been a composer in residence with the San Antonio Symphony and Dallas Symphony Orchestra. He is regularly sought out for commissioned compositions by various organizations.
Rodríguez earned his bachelor’s and master’s degrees in music from UT Austin. He has a doctorate in musical arts in composition from USC.