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 from the U.S Solti Foundation, Roderick Cox was named the Minnesota Orchestra’s Associate Conductor from September 2016 to July 2018 following a year as the ensemble’s Assistant Conductor. Previously, 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 the 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 a subscription concert debut with the Minnesota Orchestra and debut concerts with the Cleveland Orchestra, Seattle Symphony, Santa Fe Symphony and BBC Symphony orchestras as well as at the Lanaudiere Festival with the Orchestre Metropolitan de Montreal, Grant Park Festival in Chicago and at the Manhattan School of Music conducting Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9.

In 18/19, Roderick made his debut subscription concerts with the Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra with Cameron Carpenter (Organ) which led to an immediate re-invitation to conduct the Youth Orchestra Los Angeles (YOLA)in Summer 2019. Roderick also made his Opera debut with Houston Grand Opera in performances of Bizet’s Pêcheurs de Perles as well as symphonic debuts with Sinfonia Varsovia and the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra. Further debuts this season include with the Philharmonia Orchestra (Brighton Festival), summer festival performances with the Houston Symphony and at the Peninsula Music Festival as well as with the Dresdner Philharmonie. This summer, Roderick will also return to the Cleveland and Minnesota Orchestras.

The League of American Orchestras selected Roderick as one of five conductors for the 2016 Bruno Walter National Conducting Preview, a prestigious showcase for young conductors in the United States. Roderick was also nominated by Marin Alsop to attend the Conductors Guild Conductor/Composer Training Workshop at the Cabrillo Festival of Contemporary Music for two consecutive years.

Contact

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

Worldwide Management: Askonas Holt



roderickcox.com

Performance Schedule

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    20:30 29 Jun 2019 Miller Outdoor Theatre, HOUSTON

    RICHARD STRAUSS Don Juan, Op. 20
    ERNEST BLOCH Schelomo; Hebraic Rhapsody for cello and orchestra
    Interval
    LUDWIG VAN BEETHOVEN Symphony No. 5 in C minor Op. 67

    Orchestra: Houston Symphony
    Cello: Coleman Itzkoff
    Conductor: Roderick Cox

  • More info  
    20:00 05 Jul 2019 Blossom Music Center, OH

    LEONARD BERNSTEIN Symphonic Suite (“On The Waterfront”)
    GEORGE GERSHWIN Rhapsody in Blue
    Interval
    IGOR STRAVINSKY The Firebird Suite (1919 version)
    PYOTR ILYICH TCHAIKOVSKY 1812 Overture Op. 49 (1882)

    Conductor: Roderick Cox
    Piano: Aaron Diehl
    Orchestra: Cleveland Orchestra

  • More info  
    20:00 06 Jul 2019 Blossom Music Center, OH

    LEONARD BERNSTEIN Symphonic Suite (“On The Waterfront”)
    GEORGE GERSHWIN Rhapsody in Blue
    IGOR STRAVINSKY The Firebird Suite (1919 version)
    PYOTR ILYICH TCHAIKOVSKY 1812 Overture Op. 49 (1882)

    Conductor: Roderick Cox
    Piano: Aaron Diehl
    Orchestra: Cleveland Orchestra

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    20:05 20 Jul 2019 Orchestra Hall Minnesota, Minneapolis, MINNESOTA

    MANUEL DE FALLA The Three Cornered Hat: Three Dances from Suite No. 2
    JOSÉ WHITE Violin Concerto
    Interval
    LUDWIG VAN BEETHOVEN Symphony No. 3 in E flat major Op. 55 ‘Eroica’

    Conductor: Roderick Cox
    Orchestra: Minnesota Orchestra
    Violin: Elena Urioste

  • More info  
    20:50 18 Aug 2019 Dresden Semperoper, DRESDEN

    HECTOR BERLIOZ Roman Carnival
    PABLO SARASATE Carmen Fantasy Op. 25
    MAURICE RAVEL Pavane pour une Infante defunte
    CAMILLE SAINT-SAËNS Samson et Dalila
    GEORGE GERSHWIN An American in Paris

    Conductor: Roderick Cox
    Orchestra: Dresden Philharmonic Orchestra
    Violin: Karen Gomyo

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    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

Press

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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