Alcides Rodriguez is currently the bass clarinetist with the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra. He received his Masters Degree in Music Performance from Northwestern University, after beginning his musical training in 1987 in the Youth Symphony Orchestra of his hometown, Guanare, Venezuela. He has studied with distinguished Venezuelan clarinetists such as Jorge Montilla, Daniel Granados and Carlos Mujica, and was a semifinalist in the clarinet competition “Ciudad de dos Hermanas” in Seville, Spain. The following year he won first place in the concerto competition of the American Youth Symphony Orchestra of Puerto Rico to play the Jean Francaix’s Clarinet Concerto. 

He has performed as a soloist in Venezuela with Los Llanos Symphony Orchestra, Gran Mariscal de Ayacucho Symphony Orchestra, Guarico State Symphony Orchestra, Falcon State Symphony Orchestra, and in the United States with the Northwestern University Symphony Orchestra, the Baylor University Symphony Orchestra, and the American Wind Symphony.

Mr. Rodriguez has participated in various summer music festivals, including the New Hampshire Music Festival, the National Repertory Orchestra and the National Orchestral Institute. Internationally, he has performed at the San Miguel de Allende Chamber Music Festival (México), the Pacific Music Festival (Japan) and the Campos do Jordão International Winter Festival (Brazil).

An avid advocate of Venezuelan music, Mr. Rodriguez also plays maracas and cuatro. He has been featured as a maracas soloist, performing the Concerto for Maracas and Orchestra by Ricardo Lorenz. He has also played maracas in the percussion section of the Atlanta Symphony. His album The Venezuelan Clarinet (2010) is a tribute to the music of his native country, and a showcase of Mr. Rodriguez' versatility. Throughout his career, Mr. Rodriguez has earned prizes in clarinet competitions such as the Young Texas Artist Music Competition, the Kingsville Competition and the Orchestral Excerpts Competition of the International Clarinet Association. While in Venezuela he often performed as a soloist with various youth orchestras, playing some of the most important works in the clarinet repertoire. In 1997, he gave the first performance in Venezuela of Carl Nielsen's Clarinet Concerto.