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Washington State University
College of Arts and Sciences School of Music

Christiano Rodrigues

Office: Kimbrough 258
School of Music
Washington State University
PO Box 645300
Pullman, WA 99164-5300
Phone: (509) 335-5647
Email: c.rodrigues1@wsu.edu

Assistant Professor of Violin and Viola

Christiano Rodrigues is the Assistant Professor of Violin and Viola at Washington State University. He received his Bachelor of Arts degree in Music at Nicholls State University, where he studied violin with James Alexander. Rodrigues holds the distinction of being the first graduate of the String Program at this institution. Additionally, he holds the degree of Master of Music from Rice University, where he was a student of Paul Kantor at the Shepherd School of Music. In 2019, he earned his Doctor of Musical Arts degree from the Arizona State University under the guidance of Jonathan Swartz and holds the honor of being the recipient of the Outstanding Graduating Student Award from this institution. He received chamber music training from the Cavani String Quartet at the Cleveland Institute of Music, and has since received further training from members of the Tokyo, Cleveland, Ying, and St. Lawrence String Quartets.

Since 2016, he has been on the Artist/Faculty of the Round Top Festival Institute where he has helped inspire dozens of young artists, many of which now enjoy thriving musical careers in the United States and abroad. Additionally, he has served as concertmaster of the Round Top Festival Orchestra and collaborated in numerous chamber music performances. He has also served as concertmaster of the Walla Walla Symphony, MusicaNova Orchestra, and was the founder and leader of MusicaNova Chamber Players in Arizona. Additionaly, he was a guest artist in residence with the Dubrovnik Symphony Orchestra in Croatia, the Mercury Chamber Orchestra in Houston, and the International Chamber Orchestra of Puerto Rico. He has performed as soloist with several orchestras in the United States and abroad, including world-premieres of concerti by Rodney Rogers with the MusicaNova Chamber Players and James Nyoraku Schlefer with the Round Top Festival Orchestra.

A firm advocate of inclusion, diversity, equity, and equality within the arts, he devotes a significant amount of time supporting the music education of children and developing young artists from underserved communities. He continues to be a partner of the Harmony Project in Phoenix and holds frequent masterclasses and lessons throughout the year to social projects in Brazil.

He has performed extensively with pianist Karen Nguyen as a member of the Rodrigues-Nguyen Duo. As a member of duo, he has premiered and recorded music by Rodney Rogers, and maintains a concert series called “in Focus” (formerly “The Duo Project”). Through this series, the duo has championed new music for violin and piano, presented the complete works of Brahms, Beethoven, and Mozart, and curated imaginative programs in collaboration with world-class artists, bringing the collective power of the arts to hundreds of new audience members.

A native from Brazil, he first learned the violin from his aunt Ana Elizabeth, receiving further guidance from violinists Leopoldo Nogueira and Hermes Cuzzuol Alvarenga. In Brazil, he enjoyed his solo debut performing the Vieuxtemps Concerto No. 5 with the Orquestra Sinfônica da Bahia (OSBA). As a young professional, He also served as the principal second violinist of the Orquestra de Câmera da Cidade de João Pessoa, and enjoyed played alongside his mother, violist Maria Celina, at the Orquestra Sinfônica da Paraiba.