Gizelxanath Rodriguez is an internationally renowned vocalist, cellist, guitarist and educator. She
is fluent in five languages (Spanish, Portuguese, English, French, and Italian). Her musical work
spans a range of styles and cultures.

Recently relocated to Ithaca from Pittsburgh, Gizelxanath has led several bands with her partner,
Benjamin Barson, including the Afro Yaqui Music Collective, Insurrealistas, and Latin Sway.
These projects have been presented at the Kennedy Center in Washington D.C., by the ASCAP
Jazz awards in Los Angeles, and many other leading national venues. She resided in New York
City for her formative years and has been a featured artist at the Lincoln Center National Dance
Institute and Repertorio Español. In 2014 she was the recipient of the Latin Ace Award for her
contributions to the New York’s Latin American music scene. She has studied at the Mozarteum
Hochschule für Musik, the Conservatory of Tijuana, and the University of Baja California in
Mexico.

Her operatic performances include Cherubino in Mozart’s Le Nozze di Figaro and Lola in
Mascagni’s Cavalleria Rusticana (The Small Opera of Sand Diego 2002/2003), Serafina in
Medina’s Serafina and Arcangela, (Los Angeles, Eutrepe’s Opera 2003), Gretel in Humperdinck
Hänsel und Gretel (New York at Lincoln Center National Dance Institute, 2007), and Kautesamai
Barson’s Mirror Butterfly (Washington D.C at the Kennedy Center, 2018). Gizelxanath has also
produced three solo albums and continues her life as an educator. She has been an artist-in-
residence at the University of Wisconsin-Madison in 2020 and has taught music throughout
various private and public schools in the Pittsburgh area for a period of eight years.