By Elena Perri • Posted April 10, 2025

St. John Paul II once said, “Artistic talent is a gift from God and whoever discovers it in himself has a certain obligation: to know that he cannot waste this talent but must develop it.”

Mia Rodriguez, 16, is certainly not wasting her God-given talent for singing, and she has been honing those skills since she was a young child.

“She had a musical ear since she was a baby, and at 5 she started singing,” said her mother, Natalie Saenz. “I noticed she was able to match the pitch to a song.”

Mia was her first child, so as a new mom, Saenz was unsure if this was typical development for a child her age. The fact that Mia was born with Down syndrome added to her uncertainty about her daughter’s developmental milestones.

“I didn’t have a point of reference of what a kid should do and what a kid with Down syndrome should be doing or not doing,” she said. “I was learning through her how to be a mom, and when I started noticing that she was singing, I didn’t think, ‘Oh, she can’t do it.’ We just kept going.”

A few years later, Saenz enrolled Mia in a local theater program, and Mia’s passion for performing is evident whenever she sings.

Mia, a freshman at Archbishop Carroll High School in Radnor, was recently cast in a commercial produced by CoorDown, an Italian nonprofit organization that promotes the rights of people with Down syndrome.

In the commercial titled “No Decision Without Us,” she sang and acted along with other individuals with disabilities.

When the video was posted online, several people wrote negative comments and speculated that Mia wasn’t really singing in the commercial.

“So many people commented on my commercial, and I did not like it,” Mia said. “I felt judged.”

Despite the negative comments, she emphatically stated, “I’m not going to let that stop me.”

Mia added that she is determined to “keep showing up with love, honesty, authenticity and faith because God has faith in us.”

At Archbishop Carroll, Mia sings in the choir and she recently sang a solo of “Ave Maria” at the Mass for Individuals with Disabilities at the Cathedral Basilica of SS. Peter and Paul. She also brought up the offertory gifts with Carroll junior Michael Schuller and Carroll alumna Chloe Meyers (class of 2024).

At Carroll, Mia has developed a strong bond with Cecilia Beatty, the school’s director of choirs.

“I love Ms. Beatty because she’s sweet and caring and is always there to support me,” Mia said. “The reason why I love her is because choir is a class where I get to learn about the history of music and get to know the notes and do the vocal warmups and all that fun stuff.”

Beatty, in her first year of teaching at Carroll, recalls the first time she heard Mia sing.

“She was in my room, and she just started singing, and it was so beautiful,” Beatty said. “I couldn’t believe this little child could have that beautiful, angelic voice.”

Beatty is helping Mia improve her singing ability, and she also is teaching her to play the piano.

“Mia really loves to sing, and music is definitely the biggest part of her life,” she added. “I think she could sing anything. I’m going to start her on the Italian arias, and she’s really excited about that.”

Beatty noted that Mia is the first student to have her music memorized, and she pays close attention to everything that happens during choir rehearsals.

“She’s just like anyone else in my choir, except she’s sometimes a little more outstanding than most of my sopranos,” Beatty said. “She is an inspiration to everyone, and I think it’s a gift to anyone who hears her sing because there’s a definite beauty in her voice that other people don’t have.”

While Mia loves music, biology is her favorite subject in school.

“I’m a science kind of person, and I love learning about the DNA and the RNA and how they work,” Mia said.

Learning about her Catholic faith at Carroll also has been an enjoyable experience for Mia.

“I simply adore my favorite theology teacher Mr. (Anthony) Cimorelli because he teaches me a lot of cool and fascinating things about God, his faith in us, and how he was hung on the cross,” she said. “What faith means to me is showing respect to others, giving love to one another, engaging with one another, and having that generosity with so many people who do have faith in God.”

After attending Fern Hill Elementary School and E.N. Peirce Middle School in West Chester, Mia’s parents wanted her to attend a Catholic high school.

She added that Mia is helping Carroll students to better understand what Down syndrome is and changing their perceptions about people with the congenital condition.

“Her classmates are learning a lot from her,” Saenz said.

Mia’s musical influence has extended to her two younger siblings, Emma, 13, and Julian, 11, who both sing and perform in musicals. Her family enjoys attending Broadway musicals, including Hamilton, Wicked, and Lightning Thief: the Percy Jackson Musical.

“The only thing that I love about New York is seeing Broadway shows with my family,” Mia said.

Last month she returned to New York to sing in the second annual Broadway Cabaret in honor of World Down Syndrome Day.

Saenz explained that Broadway performers were donating their time to raise awareness and funds for Gigi’s Playhouse, a nonprofit organization that provides learning opportunities for individuals with Down syndrome.

“I loved singing ‘Journey to the Past’ from Anastasia,” Mia said.

Given Mia’s love of performing, she created an Instagram account about two years ago and now has nearly 12,000 followers. She shares her love of singing and music and is an advocate to help break the stereotypes of people with Down syndrome.

“I absolutely enjoy having that experience as a self-advocate and public speaker because it is a huge thing for me,” she said. “It is a huge responsibility for me as a self-advocate. I want the world to know that everyone has a voice, and everyone is special in their own way.”

Saenz collaborates with Mia about what is posted on her Instagram account.

“Nothing goes on there without her approval or her input,” her mother said. “It’s important that she approves what is posted. She tells me, ‘Yes, I want this, or I don’t want that.’”

Beatty is confident that Mia’s talent will serve her well after she graduates from high school.

“She’s very personable and she’s got many good qualities, and I really think she could go to music school,” Beatty said. “I was thinking she would fit in perfectly at Immaculata University. They have a great music department, and there’s a lot of different levels of musicianship there.”

Mia has even bigger plans for her future.

“What I see in the future is a smart teenager who can do anything like auditioning for shows and plays,” she said.

“My dream role is to become Elphaba, the wicked witch of the West (in Wicked), singing ‘Defying Gravity’ with my broom and my cape, and I will be the best witch there ever was. I aspire to be on Broadway.”