The College of Charleston’s Monday Night Concert Series will feature African-American tenor Rodrick Dixon, who possesses a voice of extraordinary range and versatility that has earned him the respect and attention of leading conductors, orchestras and opera companies throughout North America. He will perform works by Franz Schubert, Gabriel Fauré, Stephen Sondheim, Stephen Flaherty and others. The concert will take place Monday, Sept. 27, 2010 at 8 p.m. in the Recital Hall of the Simons Center for the Arts, 54 St. Philip St. Admission is $10 at the door and free for College of Charleston students with valid I.D.
Passionate arts supporter John Rivers, of Rivers Enterprises, Inc., has arranged for Dixon’s performance in Charleston. Rivers explains, “Rodrick Dixon has what I consider to be a ‘glass shattering’ tenor voice. I first heard him at the Black History Teleconference hosted by Dr. Marianna Davis at Benedict College, where he was attending as a mentor for not only those present but for those who would be seeing the teleconference in 135 countries around the world. We became friends, and when I asked him to come to the College of Charleston he generously agreed to do so. Students, faculty and the general public will enjoy hearing Dixon’s world famous voice.”
RODRICK DIXON: Mr. Dixon’s extensive television credits include PBS specials: The US Air Force 60th Anniversary Gala, Cook, Dixon & Young Volume One, Washington Opera Gala at Constitution Hall, The Mark Twain Awards Honoring Whoopi Goldberg at Kennedy Center, My Favorite Broadway: The Love Songs at City Center. Other TV appearances include: The Tavis Smiley Show on PBS/NPR, Marshall Fields’ Christmas Commercials, TV One’s Christmas Special, WGN’s A Christmas Glory, The Tony Awards, NBC’s Today Show, Good Morning America, The Rosie O’Donnell Show and The Wayne Brady Show.
Notable recent engagements include appearances with Los Angeles Opera in the title role of Zemlinky’s Der Zwerg conducted by James Conlon. Mr. Dixon earned critical acclaim and an invitation to return with Maestro Conlon to the Cincinnati May Festival as tenor soloist in Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9, Carmina Burana, Rachmaninoff’s The Bells, and Rossini’s Stabat Mater, and with the Philadelphia Orchestra for more performances of Der Zwerg. He has also appeared at the Vail Music Festival as tenor soloist in Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony conducted by Marin Alsop.
In 2009 Mr. Dixon made his Los Angeles Philharmonic debut in the title role of Stravinsky’s Oedipus Rex conducted by Esa-Pekka Salonen and directed by Peter Sellars and repeated the production in 2010 at the Sydney Arts Festival in Australia. He also appeared as tenor soloist with the Atlanta Symphony conducted by Robert Spano and returned to the Cincinnati May Festival at the invitation of James Conlon.
Elsewhere on the operatic stage, Mr. Dixon has appeared with Los Angeles Opera as Walther von der Vogelweide in Tannhauser, Michigan Opera Theater as Tonio in La Fille Du Regiment, Todi Music Festival as Lenski in Eugene Onegin and as Tonio, Portland Opera in the title role of Les Contes d’Hoffmann; Opera Columbus for the world premiere of Vanqui (Prince); and the Virginia Opera as Sportin’ Life in Porgy & Bess.
During his association with the Lyric Opera of Chicago’s Center for American Artists, he appeared on their stage in many productions, most notably as the Prince in the world premiere of The Song of Majnun, plus performances at the Ravinia Festival and a series of concerts at the Chatelet Theater in Paris.
A gifted recitalist, Mr. Dixon earned rave reviews for his Dame Myra Hess Memorial Concert broadcast honoring Roland Hayes on WFMT-FM/Chicago. He has also presented pre-concert recitals at the Cincinnati May Festival; completed a 30 city tour for Community Concerts and a duet concert “Following in the Footsteps” at Hampton University with Soprano Alfreda Burke, with whom he has also appeared in duet recitals for the Umbria Music Festival in Italy. He participated as a guest soloist for the Cincinnati Symphony’s New Year’s Eve Celebration.
As a part of “The Tenors: Cook, Dixon & Young,” he has appeared in concert with the Atlanta Symphony, Hollywood Bowl, Cincinnati Symphony, Pittsburgh Symphony, Dayton Philharmonic, Colorado Symphony, West Virginia Symphony, Chicago Symphony Orchestra at Millennium Park; Elgin Symphony, Rackham Symphony Chorus and the Concordia Orchestra at Lincoln Center.
Rodrick Dixon’s musical theater credits include the original cast of Ragtime on Broadway, Show Boat at the Auditorium Theatre, Pops Concerts at Grant Park Music Festival, The Chicagoland Pops Orchestra at the Rosemont Theater and the Cincinnati Pops with Eric Kunzel.
Mr. Dixon’s most recent recordings (Sony/BMG) PBS Great Performances Cook, Dixon & Young Volume One released in (2005), Follow That Star Christmas CD (2003), Liam Lawton’s Sacred Land (2006) and Rodrick Dixon Live in Concert (2008). In December of 2008 Mr. Dixon performed Christmas concerts of “Too Hot to Handel” at Detroit Opera House and at the Auditorium Theatre under the baton of Suzanne Acton.