Ronnie Rios
Ronnie Rios (Harlingen, TX) is a multi-Grammy Nominated Music Educator originally from Alice, Texas. He holds a Bachelor of Music Education and a Master of Music Education, graduating summa cum laude. After over 25 years of experience as a high school band director, Rios now serves as the Director of Athletic Bands at the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley.
During his 21 years as Director of Bands at Harlingen High School, all six concert bands received consistent UIL Sweepstakes Awards, Best in Class, State, and National Awards, along with many students being selected for All-State Band and Jazz Band. The Harlingen High School “Big Red” Cardinal Marching Band made 11 consecutive appearances at the Texas State Marching Band Championships, qualifying every opportunity from 1998 to 2018. The group also earned positions in the finals of the Bands of America Regional Championships, including being named a Regional Champion. In 2011, the Harlingen High School Band was named the Texas Bandmasters Association Exemplary High School Band Program of the Year. In 2022, Rios also led the Port Isabel Tarpon Marching Band to the Texas State Marching Band Championships and a Bands of America Class Championship. His marching bands have won numerous 1st Place Festival Awards and Grand Champion Marching Band Awards throughout South and Central Texas. His concert bands have advanced to the TMEA State Honor Band and Outstanding Performance Series State Finals numerous times, finishing as high as 7th in the state.
Rios’s jazz ensembles received consistent Best in Class and numerous “Outstanding Band of the Festival” Awards. One was the Invited Jazz Ensemble and showcased at the Texas Music Educators Association Clinic/Convention in San Antonio with Grammy Winning Trumpeter Arturo Sandoval. His jazz ensembles also have performed at The Midwest Clinic in Chicago four times.
Rios is a past Phi Beta Mu Texas Young Bandmaster of the Year recipient. He was also recently awarded the prestigious Texas Bandmasters Association Meritorious Achievement Award. He continues to serve as the Artistic Director for the Rio Grande Valley Jazz Orchestra, a community group in Harlingen, Texas. He is currently the TMEA Area G Band Chair and has served as a clinician and adjudicator in Texas, Arizona, Kentucky, Georgia, Nevada, Utah, California, New Mexico, and Indiana. He currently serves as an active adjudicator for UIL, DCI, and BOA. Rios and his wife, Thelma Sanford, reside in Harlingen, Texas.