Dr. fabián rodríguez castro (they/he)
conductor • music educator • vocologist • performing artist • artistic & creative consultant
Dr. Fabián Rodríguez Castro is a multidisciplinary artist and educator with experience as a conductor, vocologist, vocalist, multi-instrumentalist, and artistic & creative consultant. From a variety of different projects and organizations, Fabián is known for their ability to work with individuals and groups of all ages and diverse backgrounds.
Dr. Rodríguez Castro holds degrees from Syracuse University, Azusa Pacific University, and the University of Arizona. They have studied and been influenced by notable mentors: Dr. John Sutton, Dr. Harold Clousing, Dr. Michelle Jensen, Dr. Jeff Vanderlee, and Dr. Elizabeth Schauer.
As a vocalist and multi-instrumentalist, Fabián has had the opportunity to perform at a number of different venues all over the world. Their performance career has taken them throughout the United States and abroad in concert tours and recording projects, including performances at Walt Disney Concert Hall, Radio City Music Hall, the Dolby Theatre, and Jazz at Lincoln Center. Their performance tours have taken them across the United States and around the world, performing throughout Europe and Asia.
Their enthusiasm for the arts and inclusive justice has allowed them to serve as a clinician and adjudicator for various groups in the International Championship of Collegiate A Cappella, leading seminars for the Contemporary A Cappella Society of America, and presenting at regional and national American Choral Directors Association conferences. Fabián previously served as co-chair for the annual Life Gets Better Together Conference at Syracuse University.
Fabián has worked as primary and assistant conductor to educational and professional ensembles in Los Angeles and New York. They have also served as an educator at public and private TK-12 schools, while also providing lessons for voice, instruments, arranging/composition, and production at various institutions and organizations. Their professional performing credits include Volta Vocals, Top Shelf Vocal, Metropolitan Master Chorale, and the Sterling Ensemble, who most recently went on a concert tour in Sardinia, Italy in 2020 and released “Into the Light,” a live album in 2022.
Fabián completed their Master’s of Music in Conducting at Azusa Pacific University where they performed with various ensembles in a variety of genres including the Choral Scholars, University Choir, Symphony Orchestra, Gospel Choir, Masterwork’s Chorale, Jazz Band, and the Chamber Singers who most recently went on a concert tour of Hong Kong and China in 2019. At the University of Arizona for the Doctor of Musical Arts program in Conducting, they served as assistant conductor for the University Community Chorus under Professor Nicky Manlove and with Dr. Jeff Vanderlee for Collegium Musicum – an early music ensemble focusing on repertoire prior to 1750. Fabián's secondary concentration was in voice and completed an individualized doctoral minor in Gender Affirming Vocal Pedagogy.
They have continued their professional education outside of traditional degree programs by completing Northeastern Conservatory of Music’s Acoustic Vocal Pedagogy Workshop, the National Center for Voice and Speech Summer Vocology Institute, and Kodály Association of Southern California’s Level III Certification.
Dr. Rodríguez Castro is the founding artistic & music director for Liminal Voices & Orchestra, a choral-orchestral ensemble for musicians that identify within the LGBTQ+/Gender Expansive/BBIA (Black, Brown, Indigenous, Asian) communities. Their debut performance was titled "Tales from Resilience," a program consisting of marginalized composers and concluded with the California premiere of Afro-Brazilian composer José Maurício Nunes Garcia's 1816 Requiem in d.
In addition to being part of the vocal health faculty at the AMDA College of the Performing Arts, Dr. Rodríguez Castro continues to work with various organizations and institutions as an artistic & creative consultant. Related fields include audio engineering/production and graphic/web design. They reside in Los Angeles, CA with their service dog and cat.