At 36, he becomes the youngest permanent conductor at the head of the Opera Orchestra and will take up his position in September 2024.
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The Montpellier National Opera Orchestra announced Tuesday April 23 the appointment of American conductor Roderick Cox to the position of musical director, succeeding the Dane Michael Schonwandt who held this position between 2015 and 2023. “This young American conductor of great talent will brilliantly accompany us (…) towards one of our great objectives: to make Montpellier one of the European capitals of music”, rejoiced the president of the Opera Orchestra, Bernard Serrou.
Roderick Cox said to himself “deeply honored” And “determined to perpetuate the legacy of artistic excellence that characterizes this institution while using the transformative power of music to chart bold new paths, diversifying our programs and developing new audiences,” in the press release of his appointment.
Integration of the African-American repertoire
At 36, Roderick Cox becomes the youngest permanent conductor at the head of the Opera Orchestra. This is also the first time that he has become musical director of a national orchestra, after acclaimed stints at the Boston Symphony Orchestra or the Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin among others. African-American, originally from Georgia, in the United States, he launched in 2019, in parallel with his activities as a conductor, the Roderick Cox Music Initiative: a training program to financially help young black-American musicians.
He also campaigns for the greater integration of the African-American repertoire in conservatory or university training. Roderick Cox notably designed the program “Song of America: A Celebration of Black Music” at the Elbphilharmonie in Hamburg. “His artistic standards and his commitment to the diversification of audiences” were also greeted by the mayor of Montpellier, Michaël Delafosse.
Roderick Cox will take up his duties in September 2024, before opening the Opera Orchestra’s opera season at the end of the month with three performances of The Force of Destiny by Verdi.
