Our Director

Sergio Rodriguez has been the Orchestra Program Director at Sprayberry High School since 2023. Mr. Rodriguez brings a wealth of performing and teaching experience that will greatly enrich our students, school, and the wider musical community.

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Throughout his distinguished career, Mr. Rodriguez’s orchestra programs have earned superior ratings from the Georgia Music Educators Association, and he has been honored as Best Teacher of the Year by the Atlanta Family Award for Excellence in Education. Additionally, he was nominated for the prestigious Barry Manilow Music Teacher Award.

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A native of San Pedro Sula, Honduras, Mr. Rodriguez began his musical journey studying violin at the Victoríano López Music Conservatory. In 1986, he was invited to the United States by the Vermont Symphony Orchestra and furthered his education at Southeastern Louisiana University, the University of Kentucky, and the Longy School of Music in Massachusetts. As an educator, he has taught violin, viola, chamber music, and music theory both in Honduras—at institutions such as the Magnet School for Music and Children of the Carl Orff System, the National School of Music, the National Conservatory of Music Francisco Díaz Zelaya, and the Honduras National University—and in the U.S., including Southeastern Louisiana University and the Acadiana Conservatory of Music in Louisiana. His dedication to the Latino community earned him recognition from Mundo Hispánico newspaper as one of ten outstanding Hispanic citizens (“Héroes de Nuestra Comunidad”) in Georgia.

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As a conductor, Mr. Rodriguez has led ensembles including the Southeastern Louisiana University String Orchestra, Acadiana Symphony Youth Orchestra, and Southwestern Louisiana University Orchestra. He founded the National Youth Chamber Orchestra in Tegucigalpa and was a conductor fellow at the South Carolina Conductor’s Institute in 1998 and the Bard Conservatory in 2011. He has served as guest conductor for the Atlanta Community Symphony Orchestra, Buckhead Chamber Orchestra, and Honduras Philharmonic. His accolades include first prize at the Children’s Chorus Competition in San Pedro Sula and awards from the National School of Music and the Honduras Ministry of Culture. He also founded and conducts the Dougherty County Youth Symphony Orchestra in Georgia. Among his esteemed conducting mentors are 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 Tamarkin, and Leon Botstein. Recently, he conducted at Carnegie Hall and was invited to lead at the American String Teacher Association Orchestra Festival in 2018.

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As a violinist, Mr. Rodriguez has performed with the Atlanta Virtuosi and the symphonies of Valdosta, Macon, and Albany, Georgia. His concertmaster and soloist roles include the Honduras National University Chamber Orchestra, Central American Youth Symphony Orchestra, Baton Rouge Symphony, Lexington Philharmonic, Hanover Chamber Orchestra, New England Philharmonic, Dartmouth Symphony, Honduras National Symphony Orchestra, and the Harvard-Radcliffe Orchestra on their Southeast Asia tour. He has toured Puerto Rico with the Atlanta Virtuosi and appeared at numerous festivals such as the Central American Youth Symphony Orchestra Festival, Costa Rica Musica Festival, Honduras Music Festival, and the Chautauqua Music Festival. He was also artist-in-residence at the Chalmette Discovery Summer Program in Louisiana.

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Mr. Rodriguez is a published author with articles on Honduran musical culture and short stories featured in El Heraldo Tiempo, Criterio.hn, Yareah Magazine (Spain), and his own column in El Periódico. He continues to contribute as a music critic for newspapers in his homeland.

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As a composer, he has written symphonic and chamber works, children’s musicals, and arrangements of traditional Honduran music. Many of his compositions and arrangements are published by J.W. Pepper Music Company.

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Mr. Rodriguez has been happily married to his wife Silvia for 28 years, and they have three wonderful children: Arianna, Sergio, and Yazmin. He enjoys spending time with his family, reading, playing and singing with the guitar, and traveling.