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HomeMy WebLinkAboutRodriguez keeps music in life, newspaper clipping, (02/14/1991)Page 6A, The Press, Thursday, February 14, JUST SA Y 'Y SA WIT IIV THE PRESS!" — - -- -- From'school bands to orchestra! Rodriguez keeps music in his lif� By Mark Beal PRESS Reporter Former Bryan High School band director Pete Rodriguez has found that music is something you just can't retire from. Since leaving his position with BHS in 1985, Rodriguez has been keeping his hand in the music scene as a musician, director, teacher and administrator. He works with the University Scholastic League estab- lishing rules for high school music competitions across Texas. He privately tutors promising high school students. On weekends, he stays busy playing the clarinet and saxophone with the Pete Rodriguez Orchestra, a dance band he formed to play at parties, special events, and "lots of weddings." "I play for almost all my ex - students' weddings," he says. "I guess they trust me not to take them to the cleaners." The band was formed in 1974 on the spur of the moment. "I used to travel with bands when I was in Dallas for 11 years, but when I moved here I didn't think I'd have time for it, which I didn't for a long time," Rodriguez says. "Then, one day a band parent asked me if we'd play at the Lion's Club. Well, we couldn't get the whole band over there, so we got seven or eight directors together and we practically sight read it on the spot. It was just 'Let's get this thing over with' but it was well-received and we were asked to play someplace else. Pretty soon, we exhausted our seven or eight pieces and I was having to write more arrangements. Next thing you know, we were playing at functions all the time." Now keeping his band in music is a continual effort. He is constantly transcribing songs to match their instrumentation and satisfy his clients. "Every bride has a favorite tune that they want played for the first dance," he says. Rodriguez's music of choice is Dixieland and "the heavies" — by which he means classical music — but he enjoys a wide variety of styles. "In my line I play all sorts of music: polkas, waltzes, rock. I don't dislike any type of music. I find that after I have to play a piece and have explored it for awhile, I end up loving it," he says. Rodriguez's latest project has been forming a municipal band, which will give its first concert on March 3. The idea came to him last summer when some local band directors told him they wished they had some kind of group they could play with. So Rodriguez recruited them, along with directors from surrounding cities, college and high school students, and anyone else who thought they might be able to remember how to play. "They come in from Huntsville, Brenham, Hearne, Tomball — all over the place, so you know they've got to like it," he says. Rodriguez inherited his musical background from his father, who "wore two hats" as an Army band- master and also band director at a Catholic school. "I was born on an Army base near Brownsville," he says. "I grew up around military bands and their kinds of music. I remember a lot of times instead of just watching I would play along with them." And in keeping with the musical nature of his life, it was in the band at Stephen F. Austin University that Rodriguez met his wife, Mary. "We were in the same clarinet section in the band," Mary says. "I was very impressed with the way he played. There was no one else in the band that could play like him, so you couldn't help but notice him." In addition to music, Rodriguez has discovered a new love: gardening. Photo by Mari Pete Rodriguez, shown here with wife Mary, has been active if Bryan -College Station music scene for nearly two deca Although retired from Bryan High School, he continues involvement with music education as well as his own band. He says his interest in gardening has come about as the result of a triple bypass operation he underwent in 1985 to correct a problem that an earlier operation failed to improve. "It's a strange thing," he says. "I got into it after my second heart surgery. I remember how while I was convalescing, I started looking at the flowers and they reminded me of people. They live their live what they're there for and they're gone, just like us. that, I really started to appre them a lot." So he planted a garden to that appreciation. "Come around here in spring," he says, "and you'll the prettiest flowers in the v area.,, Page 6A, The Press, Thursday, February 14, bands to orchestras peps music in his life ,ic of choice is heavies" — by assical music — wide variety of Jay all sorts of ialtzes, rock. I type of music. I ve to play a piece I it for awhile, I he says. test project has municipal band, s first concert on le to him last ome local band they wished they group they could ddriguez recruited h directors from college and high and anyone else y might be able to i play. 1 from Huntsville, e, Tomball — all you know they've says. ierited his musical m his father, who as an Army band - band director at on an Army baso e," he says. "I grev ary bands and thei I remember a lot OL Df just watching I io, with them." ng with the musical e, it was in the band Austin University met his wife, Mary. i the same clarinet )and," Mary says. "I ssed with the way he was no one else in ,ould play like him, n't help but notice to music, Rodriguez red a new love: rrvuw uy ........ _. Pete Rodriguez, shown here with wife Mary, has been active in the Bryan -College Station music scene for nearly two decades. Although retired from Bryan High School, he continues his involvement with music education as well as his own band. He says his interest in gardening has come about as the result of a triple bypass operation he underwent in 1985 to correct a problem that an earlier operation failed to improve. "It's a strange thing," he says. "I got into it after my second heart surgery. I remember how while I was convalescing, I started looking at the flowers and they reminded me of people. They live their lives, do what they're there for and then they're gone, just like us. After that, I really started to appreciate them a lot." So he planted a garden to show that appreciation. "Come around here in the spring," he says, and you'll find the prettiest flowers in the whole nrP;a_"