Mauricio Rodriquez

latin jazztet director

Email: mjrodri2@usf.edu 
Phone: (813) 336-1438
Web: https://www.mauriciojrodriguez.com/ 

Mauricio José Rodríguez has served on the University of South Florida music faculty since 2026 as the Latin Jazztet Director. An accomplished bassist, composer, arranger, and educator, he brings decades of international teaching and performance experience to the School of Music.

Rodríguez earned a Master of Music in Performance from the University of South Florida. He completed earlier professional studies in Cuba, where he taught studio lessons in double bass and electric bass, served as a National Consultant for professional music education, was a member of the National Evaluation Commission for Professional Achievement, and worked as a technical supervisor for the Cuban Music Institute. He later served as a Professor of Music Theory at the Universidad Pedagógica Experimental Libertador in Venezuela, where he also worked with El Sistema, teaching double bass and contributing to music education initiatives.

As a performer and composer, Rodríguez has performed across the United States, Europe, and Latin America in orchestral, jazz, and chamber settings. His original and commissioned works have been played worldwide, including at the BBC Proms and by the Miami Symphony Orchestra, where his concerto for two double basses and orchestra, Love and Betrayal, premiered in 2017, inspired by Bizet's Carmen. He has received two Latin Grammy Awards nominations as an instrumentalist and recording engineer, and he is a member of the Recording Academy. Active in both classical and Latin jazz traditions, he continues to perform, record, and present clinics while mentoring the next generation of musicians.