Auditorium Theatre 2018-19 Issue 2 Too Hot to Handel

JANUARY 19+20, 2019 | TOO HOT TO HANDEL | 7 BIOGRAPHIES Rodrick Dixon (Tenor) possesses a tenor voice of extraordinary range and versatility that has earned him the respect and attention of leading conductors, orchestras, and opera companies throughout North America. The 2018-2019 season includes debuts for Dixon with the Orchestra Sinfonica Nazionale RAI as Erik in Der fliegender Holländer , conducted by James Conlon; tenor soloist with Orquestra Sinfonica do Estado de São Paulo, conducted by Marin Alsop; and Charleston Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Ken Lam. He also returns this season to the Cincinnati Symphony in the Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9 with Louis Langree and sings the role of the Shaman in the premiere of Healing Tones , composed by Hannibal Lokumbe and conducted by Yannick Nezet-Sguin of the Philadelphia Orchestra. Dixon recently made his St. Louis Symphony Orchestra debut in Der fliegender Holländer as Erik under the baton of David Robertson. Other notable opera credits include Los Angeles Opera in the title role of Zemlinsky’s Der Zwerg , filmed to DVD, and Walter von der Vogelweide in Tannhauser . Additional credits include performances at Michigan Opera Theatre, the Todi Music Festival production of La Fille Du Regiment as Tonio and Eugene Onegin as Lenski; Portland Opera in the title role of Les Contes d’Hoffman ; Cincinatti Opera as the Duke in Rigoletto; Opera Southwest in the title role of Rossini’s Otello ; and in the Virginia Opera tour of Porgy and Bess throughout Virginia. On the concert stage, he is a regular guest of the Cincinnati May Festival, where he has performed Orff’s Carmina Burana , Stravinsky’s Oedipus Rex , Janá č ek’s Glagolitic Mass , Mahler’s Das klagende Lied , Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9 , Rachmaninoff’s The Bells , Rossini’s Stabat Mater , and Nathaniel Dett’s The Ordering of Moses , which he has performed in Cincinnati and at New York’s Carnegie Hall. He made his Philadelphia Orchestra debut in the title role of Der Zwerg , conducted by James Conlon, and as tenor soloist for the world premiere of Hannibal Lokumbe’s world premiere of One Land, One River , One People, conducted by Yannick Séguin. For the Los Angeles Philharmonic and the Sydney Arts Festival in Australia, he played the title role in Stravinsky’s Oedipus Rex , conducted by Esa-Pekka Salonen and directed by Peter Sellars. Dixon made his Ravinia Festival debut singing Rossini arias under the baton of Christoph Eschenbach, and The Bells and Mahler’s Das klagende Lied under the baton of Conlon. He appeared with the Cleveland Orchestra at the Blossom Music Center as Sportin’ Life in Robert Russell Bennett’s suite of Gershwin’s Porgy and Bess ; Atlanta Symphony’s Martin Luther King Celebration, conducted by Robert Spano; Vail Music Festival in Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9 ; and a Bernstein program conducted by Marin Alsop. Dixon has filmed, recorded, and concertized works by composer Samuel Coleridge-Taylor with the Longfellow Chorus. He returned to Carnegie Hall to debut with the American Symphony Orchestra as tenor soloist in Frederick Delius’ A Mass of Life and to the Cincinnati May Festival as featured soloist in a new work by Alvin Singleton. Dixon appeared with the Philadelphia Orchestra at the Saratoga Performing Arts Center in the Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9 , under the baton of Stéphane Denève and performed Loge in Trilogy Opera’s Das Reingold ; Odinga in Kenyatta ; and in Hannibal Lokumbe’s world premiere of Crucifixion Resurrection at Mother Bethel AME Church, commissioned by the Philadelphia Orchestra. A gifted recitalist, Dixon earned rave reviews for his Dame Myra Hess Memorial Concert broadcast, honoring Roland Hayes on WFMT-FM. He has also presented pre-concert recitals at the Cincinnati May Festival for multiple years; completed a 30-city tour for Community Concerts ; and performed the duet concert Following in the Footsteps at Hampton University with wife, soprano Alfreda Burke, with whom he has also appeared in duet recitals for the Umbria Music Festival in Italy. The couple performed and participated in the Mandla Mandela and Miss World delegation Rise Against Hunger campaign, honoring the legacy of President Nelson Mandela. Dixon’s notable concerts with tenors Victor Cook and Thomas Young include performances at the Kodak Theatre with Barbra Streisand; Barry Manilow; Aretha Franklin’s dedication concert at the renaming of a Detroit Park after her father Pastor C.L. Franklin; the Atlanta Symphony; LA Philharmonic at the Hollywood Bowl with the Irish Tenors; Cincinnati Symphony; Pittsburgh Symphony; Dayton Philharmonic; Colorado Symphony; Phoenix Symphony Orchestra; West Virginia Symphony; Chicago Symphony Orchestra at Millennium Park; Elgin Symphony; Rackham Symphony Chorus; and the Concordia Orchestra at Lincoln Center.