Conductors

Roderick Cox

“Cox is a trailblazer… a conductor who will be in the vanguard.” (Minnesota Star Tribune)

Credit: Josh Kohanek

Introduction

Winner of the 2018 Sir Georg Solti Conducting Award by the U.S Solti Foundation, Roderick Cox was Associate Conductor of the Minnesota Orchestra for the 16/17 and 17/18 seasons. Before arriving in Minnesota, he served for two years as Assistant Conductor of the Alabama Symphony Orchestra and Music Director of the Alabama Symphony Youth Orchestra.

Roderick was awarded the Robert J. Harth Conducting Prize from the Aspen Music Festival in 2013 which led to national recognition and a return to the Festival as a Fellow. He has also held Fellowships with the Chicago Sinfonietta as part of their Project Inclusion programme and the Chautauqua Music Festival, where he was a David Effron Conducting Fellow.

Highlights among recent engagements as a guest conductor include debut subscription concerts with the Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra, his opera debut with Houston Grand Opera (Bizet’Pêcheurs de Perles) as well as further debuts with Sinfonia Varsovia, BBC Scottish Symphony and with London’s Philharmonia Orchestra at the Brighton Festival. US Summer debut performances included with the Houston Symphony (Miller Outdoor Theatre), Cleveland Orchestra (Blossom Summer Series) and with the Youth Orchestra Los Angeles (YOLA). In addition, Roderick returned to the Minnesota Orchestra for concerts in Minneapolis and the Beethoven Festival, Winona.

Highlights and debuts in the US during the 19/20 season include with the Richmond Symphony, Phoenix Symphony, Louisville Orchestra, Sphinx Symphony, New Jersey Symphony, San Antonio Symphony and with New York Philharmonic for New York Philharmonic’s Young Peoples Concerts Series. In Europe, Roderick will debut with the Orchestre de Paris, Dresdner Philharmonie, Kristiansand Symfoniorkester, Mannheim Staatsorchester and Iceland Symphony Orchestra

Born in Macon, Georgia, Roderick attended the Schwob School of Music at Columbus State University, and then later attended Northwestern University graduating with a master’s degree in 2011.

Contact

Edward Pascall  
Senior Artist Manager
Ollie Haines  
Assistant Artist Manager
Gaetan Le Divelec  
Director

Worldwide Management: Askonas Holt



roderickcox.com

Performance Schedule

 
  • More info  
    19:30 19 Sep 2019 Harpa Concert Hall, REYKJAVIK

    CLAUDE DEBUSSY Prélude à l’après-midi d’un faune
    JENNIFER HIGDON Violin Concerto
    Interval
    SERGEI PROKOFIEV Symphony No. 5 in B flat Op. 100

    Conductor: Roderick Cox
    Violin: Benjamin Beilman
    Orchestra: Iceland Symphony Orchestra

  • More info  
    19:30 04 Oct 2019 Phoenix Symphony Hall, USA

    ESA-PEKKA SALONEN Helix
    WOLFGANG AMADEUS MOZART Piano Concerto No. 21 in C major K467
    Interval
    JEAN SIBELIUS Symphony No. 5 in E-flat major, Op. 82

    Conductor: Roderick Cox
    Piano: Xuesha Hu
    Orchestra: Phoenix Symphony

  • More info  
    19:30 05 Oct 2019 Phoenix Symphony Hall, USA

    ESA-PEKKA SALONEN Helix
    WOLFGANG AMADEUS MOZART Piano Concerto No. 21 in C major K467
    Interval
    JEAN SIBELIUS Symphony No. 5 in E-flat major, Op. 82

    Conductor: Roderick Cox
    Piano: Xuesha Hu
    Orchestra: Phoenix Symphony

  • More info  
    15:00 06 Oct 2019 Phoenix Symphony Hall, USA

    ESA-PEKKA SALONEN Helix
    WOLFGANG AMADEUS MOZART Piano Concerto No. 21 in C major K467
    Interval
    JEAN SIBELIUS Symphony No. 5 in E-flat major, Op. 82

    Conductor: Roderick Cox
    Piano: Xuesha Hu
    Orchestra: Phoenix Symphony

Press

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  • More info  
    09 Jul 19 Bernstein, Gershwin, Stravinsky and Tchaikovsky
    Cleveland Orchestra, Blossom Festival Debut

    “…His gestures, even when dramatic, were efficient and tightly controlled, with riveting intensity and focus as a result…”

    Seen and Heard International

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    27 May 19 Tippett, Child of Our Time
    Philharmonia Orchestra, Brighton Festival

    “… Roderick Cox, conducting the Philharmonia Orchestra, shaped them with urgency and tension…”

    Ivan Hewett, The Guardian

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    19 Nov 18 Cerrone, Poulenc and Saint-Seans
    Los Angeles Philharmonic Debut, Walt Disney Concert Hall

    “…The colossal event was greeted with deservedly roaring accolades from the crowd. Welcome to the limelight, Maestro Cox…”

    Tony Frankel, Stage and Cinema 

     

     

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    19 Nov 18 Cerrone, Poulenc and Saint-Seans
    Los Angeles Philharmonic Debut, Walt Disney Concert Hall

    “…Cox massaged the dynamics for maximum effect: the fortissimo’s were very loud, and the pianissimos were very quiet. Cox is a big man, so it was all the more impressive that he was able to have the orchestra play so quietly and delicately. But when the score called for it, Cox appeared as if he were throwing thunderbolts at the orchestra. The majestic conclusion is the kind of sonic experience one wants in Disney Hall, and the crowd showed its appreciation with an immediate standing ovation for the young conductor, the orchestra and, indirectly, for the hall itself and, of course, Saint-Saëns’ symphony…”

     

    Henry Schlinger, Culture Spot LA 

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    06 Oct 17 Argento, Grieg & Rachmaninoff
    Minnesota Orchestra, Minneapolis Orchestra Hall

    “…The finale tingled with an edgy energy, and Cox drove home the tumultuous final climax with an expert sense of theatricality and timing…”

    Terry Blain, Star Tribune

     

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    21 Jan 17 Debussy, Rachmaninoff, Tchaikovsky
    Minnesota Orchestra, Minneapolis Orchestra Hall

    “Cox’s ability to wring interesting detail from pieces that are probably overly familiar to regular concertgoers was evident again in Rachmaninoff’s Second Piano Concerto. Working with excellent soloist Joyce Yang, Cox fashioned a richly characterized interpretation, avoiding the mushy sentimentality that often passes for expressiveness in Rachmaninoff’s music.

    There was, crucially, no rushing or brash excitability. Showing a welcome readiness to apply subtle tempo variations, Cox eked out subtleties of mood and motivation often glossed over in the barnstorming finale.”
    Terry Blain, Star Tribune

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    19 Jan 17 Debussy, Rachmaninoff, Tchaikovsky
    Minnesota Orchestra, Minneapolis Orchestra Hall

    “Tchaikovsky’s Fourth Symphony provided a great opportunity to get a sense of Cox’s conducting style. Tall and slender with large expressive hands, Cox was smooth and graceful throughout the performance, communicating his interpretive ideas with clarity and confidence. He emphasized radical shifts in mood and volume, and wasn’t reticent about asking for more and more intensity on the most explosive sections or turning things way down for delicately tiptoeing pizzicatos. And, judging from the orchestra’s expertly executed performance, the new guy has quickly earned the musicians’ respect.”

    Rob Hubbard, Pioneer Press