Cox is a trailblazer...a conductor who will be in the vanguard


Biography
Roderick Cox was named the Minnesota Orchestra’s Associate Conductor in September 2016, 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 recently selected as one of four participants for the prestigious 2018 Royal Concertgebouw Masterclass with Daniele Gatti. 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 the Project Inclusion Program and the Chautauqua Music Festival, where he was a David Effron Conducting Fellow.
Highlights of the 2016-17 season included a subscription concert debut with the Minnesota Orchestra, which was met with critical acclaim and a viral performance video of Tchaikovsky’s Symphony No. 4 that reached over 8 million viewers world wide, the largest number in the orchestras history. “Cox is a trailblazer... a conductor who will be in the vanguard.”(Minnesota Star Tribune) Other debut concerts included the Cleveland Orchestra, Santa Fe Symphony, Johannesburg Philharmonic, and the Chineke! Orchestra (London). Roderick also conducted a performance sponsored by Google and the Colour of Music Festival for the opening of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History & Culture in Washington D.C.
During the 2017-18 season, Roderick continues as Associate Conductor at the Minnesota Orchestra, where he conducts a second subscription concert week in October 2017. Further highlights of the season will include concerts with the Louisiana Philharmonic, Madrid Excelentia and Indianapolis Symphony Orchestras, Seattle Symphony, Symphony New Hampshire, and a return to the Chineke! Orchestra in Birmingham and Ghent in September 2017. Debut subscription concerts will include the Omaha Symphony Orchestra in February 2018, the Grant Park Festival Symphony Orchestra in Chicago, USA in July 2018, and Quebec Symphony Orchestra.
Roderick has conducted the National Symphony Orchestra (Washington D.C.), Detroit Symphony Orchestra, and Nashville Symphony Orchestra, and Florida Orchestra. Upcoming engagements include concert performances with the LA Philharmonic in November 2018, debut at the Houston Grand Opera in a production of Bizet’s The Pearl Fishers, and a new opera debut at the Glimmerglass Festival in NYC 2019.
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.

News & Updates
Review: Minnesota Orchestra made sure no one would doze off- October 2017
REVIEW: Conductor Roderick Cox dazzles in Minnesota Orchestra program- October 2017
Roderick Cox Wows Audience After JPO Receives R10m Donation- August 2017
Concert review: Chineke!/ Cox at the Festival Hall, London- July 2017
The Young Conductor Paving the Way for Black Musicians in Orchestra- August 2017
Roderick Cox Awarded Solti Foundation Career Assistance Award- June 1, 2017
Roderick Cox extends Contract with Minnesota Orchestra- May 15, 2017
Music with Minnesotans: Roderick Cox- Steve Staruch, interviewer- March 10, 2017
Cleveland Orchestra treats large Miami crowd to high-spirited community concert (review)- January 31, 2017
Trailblazing conductor Roderick Cox nails his first big Minnesota Orchestra concert- January 21, 2017
Minnesota Orchestra's Roderick Cox describes what inspires him- January 20, 2017
Minnesota Orchestra debuts were familiar, outstanding- January 19, 2017
Kare 11 Interview- January 14, 2017
Can the Minnesota Orchestra reach diverse audiences? This man is the key- January 14, 2017