Assistant Professor
M.M., University of North Texas
Office: 815-753-3425
E-mail: villanueva@niu.edu
Web: http://www.rodrigovillanueva.com
Mr. Villanueva is assistant professor of jazz studies at NIU, where he teaches jazz drum set, jazz arranging and he is the director of the NIU Jazz Lab Band, which has won the 1st and 2nd places at the University of Wisconsin Eau Claire College Jazz Festival in 2008 and 2006, respectively.
Rodrigo Villanueva is a drummer, composer, and arranger. He holds a Bachelor of Music (Magna Cum Laude) and a Master of Music in Jazz Performance from the University of North Texas. His teachers included Ed Soph, Andreas Lüscher, Alvaro López, Armando Zerquera, Chris Adams, Chris Dean, Robert Schietroma, and Paul Rennick, on drums and percussion; and Margarita Vega, Neil Slater, Paris Rutherford, and Dan Haerle in jazz theory and arranging.
Mr. Villanueva has played and/or recorded with several jazz, classical, and pop artists from Mexico, South America, Korea, Japan and the U.S.; among them are Eugenio Toussaint, Roberto Aymes, Stefan Karlsson, Lynn Seaton, Takagoshi Yoshioka, Hiro Morozumi, Jangeun Bae, the Mexico City Philarmonic, Atril 5, Panoramic, Fareed Haque, Charles McPherson, Eddie Henderson, Clark Terry, Wycliff Gordon, Tom Garling, Liam Teague, Jimmy Owens, Alejandro Fernandez, and Lucero.
He has composed and arranged in many styles and for different instrumentations, from percussion solos to big band. Some of his compositions have been published by Walrus Music and Increase Music. As an educator, he has taught several workshops and courses in Mexico, South America, Korea, Japan and the U.S. In addition he has been featured in many international jazz festivals and conferences, such as the 33rd IAJE International Conference in 2006, the International Jazz & Blues Festival 2006 in San Miguel de Allende, Mexico, and the XVII Jazz en Lima, Peru, in 2007, as performer, composer and/or clinician.
Mr. Villanueva is a Yamaha, Sabian and Evans artist, and is a member of the Vic Firth Education Team, PAS, IAJE, ASCAP and the Golden Key National Honor Society. In addition, he is currently involved in many jazz projects, including Sada Jazz Trio, Panoramic, Jan Wheaton Jazz Quartet, Sara Yervand Jazz Quartet, Jangeun Bae Jazz Trio, Hiro Morozumi Jazz Trio, Rodrigo Villanueva Jazz Trio/Quartet and the Rodrigo Villanueva UN Latin Jazz Trio.