Winner of the 2018 Sir Georg Solti Conducting Award by the U.S Solti Foundation, German based American conductor, Roderick Cox, has been praised as a conductor who is “paving the way” (NBC News) and recognized as a “trailblazer…a conductor who will be amongst the vanguard” (Minnesota StarTribune). Previously serving as Associate Conductor of the Minnesota Orchestra for three seasons under conductor, Osmo Vänskä, Roderick has garnered international attention for recent appearances with the Los Angelas Philharmonic, Cleveland Orchestra, Houston Grand Opera, and Philharmonia Orchestra (London). He has been featured on The History Channel and on Emmy Award winning show, TheReal.
Roderick was one of four conductors selected for the 2018 Daniele Gatti Masterclass with the famed Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra in Amsterdam. He 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 program and the Chautauqua Music Festival, where he was a David Effron Conducting Fellow.
Highlights and debuts in the US during the 19/20 season include with Orchestre de Paris, Dresdner Philharmonie, Kristiansand Symfoniorkester, Mannheim Staatsorchester, and Iceland Symphony Orchestra. In the US, Roderick will debut with the New York Philharmonic for New York Philharmonic’s Young Peoples Concerts Series, Aspen Music Festival Chamber Orchestra, Richmond Symphony, Phoenix Symphony, Louisville Orchestra, Sphinx Competition, New Jersey Symphony, and San Antonio Symphony.
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 BBC Symphony, Sinfonia Varsovia in Warsaw, BBC Scottish Symphony and with London’s Philharmonia Orchestra at the Brighton Festival. US Summer debut performances included with the Cleveland Orchestra (Blossom Music Festival) and Houston Symphony. In addition, Roderick returned to the Minnesota Orchestra for concerts in Minneapolis and the Beethoven Festival, Winona.
Passionate about education and diversity and inclusion in the arts, Roderick recently started in 2018 the Roderick Cox Music Initiative- a project to award scholarship funds to youth from unrepresented communities, allowing them to pay for instruments, music lessons, and summer camps. Roderick and the new initiative has raised over $160,000 and will be featured in an upcoming PBS/FilmNorth documentary called Conducting Life premiering May 2020.
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.
More information can be found on his website.