About this Artist
Tenor RODRICK DIXON’s (Oedipus) dramatic stage presence and stunning vocal qualities have established him as one of the rising stars in opera, contemporary opera, oratorio, concerts and recitals.
In 2009 Dixon makes his Los Angeles Philharmonic debut, performing the role of Oedipus conducted by Esa-Pekka Salonen and directed by Peter Sellars in these concerts. He will return to the Cincinnati May Festival to sing Mahler’s Symphony No. 8, Bach’s Magnificat, Weill’s The Seven Deadly Sins and Mendelssohn’s Walpurgisnacht. In 2008 for the LA Opera and Philadelphia Orchestra, Dixon delivered a powerfully gripping performance as the Dwarf in the opera Der Zwerg conducted by James Conlon. Opera News considered his portrayal of the Dwarf a triumph! In the spring and summer of 2008 at the Cincinnati May Festival, he performed Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony, appeared as Trabuco in the concert version of La forza del destino and reunited with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra at Millennium Park for a Gala Concert celebrating the city of Chicago’s 2016 Olympic bid.
In 2007, Rodrick Dixon made his LA Opera debut as Walther von der Vogelweide in Wagner’s Tannhäuser and performed excerpts of Korngold’s Die Tote Stadt and Schuloff’s Flammen for the company’s Recovered Voices series. He returned to the May Festival to sing Rossini’s Stabat Mater; appeared as Lenski in Todi Music Festival’s summer production of Eugene Onegin; and filmed the PBS special The United States Air Force 60th Anniversary: A Musical Celebration. The rest of the 2007 season included duet recitals with soprano Alfreda Burke for the Umbria Music Festival in Italy, concerts in Anchorage, Los Angeles, Washington D.C., Tennessee, Detroit, Toronto, Dayton, and Chicago. He participated as a guest soloist for the Cincinnati Symphony’s New Year’s Eve Celebration.
Dixon’s additional opera credits include Michigan Opera Theater’s and Todi Music Festival’s La fille du régiment (Tonio). He made his debut in Portland Opera’s Les contes d’Hoffmann (Hoffmann); Columbus Opera’s world premiere Vanqui (Prince); Virginia Opera’s Porgy and Bess (Sportin’ Life). In 1992, he joined the Lyric Opera Center for American Artists. His Lyric Opera of Chicago credits include appearances in Don Quichotte, Il trovatore, McTeague, Un ballo in maschera, La bohème, La traviata, and as Majnun in the world premiere of The Song of Majnun. As a Lyric Opera center member, he participated in The Rossini Gala at the Ravinia Festival and a series of concerts at the Châtelet Theater in Paris.
Other notable symphony engagements include Rachmaninoff’s The Bells (Op.35) and Orff’s Carmina Burana for the May Festival. He performed Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony and a concert of Opera & Broadway for the Vail Music Festival, under the baton of Marin Alsop. From 2001-2004 he made orchestral appearances with the group Cook, Dixon & Young at the Atlanta Symphony, the Hollywood Bowl with the Los Angeles Philharmonic, the Cincinnati Symphony, the Pittsburgh Symphony, the Dayton Symphony, the Denver Symphony, the West Virginia Symphony, the Chicago Symphony at Millennium Park, the Elgin Symphony, the Rackham Symphony Chorus, and the Concordia Orchestra at Lincoln Center. Dixon received rave reviews for his Dame Myra Hess Memorial Concert broadcast honoring Roland Hayes on WFMT-FM/Chicago. He has been presented in pre-concert recitals at the May Festival and completed a 30-city tour for Community Concerts (2000-2001) and a duet concert Following in the Footsteps (Hampton University), both with soprano Alfreda Burke.
Dixon’s most recent recordings include PBS – Great Performances: Cook, Dixon & Young in Concert: Volume 1 (2005), Follow That Star (2003), Liam Lawton’s Sacred Land (2006) Rodrick Dixon Live in Concert (2008), and the Chicago Olympic Bid Anthem “I Will Stand” for the 2016 Games (2008). Visit tenorroddixon.com.