Roderick Cox
Chicago Sinfonietta
Nation's Most Diverse Orchestra Launches Groundbreaking Conductor Program
Chicago,
IL, August 6, 2014 - Chicago Sinfonietta, a professional orchestra
focused on promoting diversity, inclusion, and innovative programming in
the field of classical music, has chosen two candidates to be
personally mentored by Music Director Mei-Ann Chen, distinguished
faculty comprised of classical music industry leaders, and the Chicago
Sinfonietta administrative staff through its Project Inclusion
Conducting Fellowship (PICF). Roderick Cox and Sameer Patel are
career-ready conductors who will be the inaugural members of the PICF
program. Maestro Paul Freeman founded Project Inclusion in 2008 to
cultivate diverse orchestral musicians. With this expansion of Project
Inclusion, the program will now include emerging professional
conductors, furthering the mission of institutional inclusiveness in
classical music. What is unprecedented about PICF is that the conducting
fellows will receive both on-the-podium training and off-the-podium
guidance as well, receiving a more practical and holistic approach to
conductor training.
“It is my pleasure to welcome young conductors Roderick Cox and Sameer
Patel to the Chicago Sinfonietta family as the first recipients of
Project Inclusion’s Conducting Fellowship. I look forward to working
with these talented artists, contributing to their growth and
development, and helping them to shape their achievements as they work
towards developing potentially significant careers", said Mei-Ann Chen,
Music Director, Chicago Sinfonietta.
Both Maestro Paul Freeman, who founded the Sinfonietta in 1987, and
Chen come from backgrounds that are underrepresented in classical music.
Freeman, a pioneer in the field, was a leading African-American
conductor who conducted over fifty orchestras worldwide. Chen, a native
of Taiwan, is one of America’s most dynamic young conductors.
An alumnus of Northwestern University and Columbus State University, Roderick Cox
is the winner of the Aspen Music Festival’s 2013 Robert H. Harth
Conducting Prize. There, he was a conducting fellow in the acclaimed
American Academy of Conducting and has worked with Robert Spano, Hugh
Wolff, and Larry Rachleff. Cox is the current Assistant Conductor of the
Alabama Symphony Orchestra and Music Director of the Alabama Symphony
Youth Orchestra. He led ASO’s annual tribute to Dr. Martin Luther King
Jr., featuring new works commemorating the Civil Rights struggle in
Birmingham and drawing not only the largest audience in the concert’s
history but a five-star review.
***
Through the PICF program, both fellows will have opportunities to
conduct live ensembles with leading music organizations and educational
institutions in Chicago. They will also receive personalized instruction
from Cliff Colnot,
DePaul University’s Director of Orchestral Activities and Wind
Ensemble, the Principal Conductor of the Civic Orchestra of Chicago, and
the Principal Conductor of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra’s
contemporary MusicNOW Ensemble. Colnot also conducts ensembles at the
University of Chicago and Indiana University. He is an experienced
arranger and bassoonist and has worked with the Lyric Opera Orchestra of
Chicago, Music of the Baroque, and the Contemporary Chamber Players.
In addition, former Chicago Symphony Orchestra CEO and former League of American Orchestra CEO Henry Fogel
will provide mentoring and audition preparation advice for the fellows.
Fogel is the former Executive Director of the National Symphony
Orchestra of Washington, D.C. and was Orchestra Manager of the New York
Philharmonic. Currently, Fogel serves as the Dean of the Chicago College
of Performing Arts at Roosevelt University. He received a Cultural
Leadership Citation from Yale University and was named an Illinois Arts
Legend by the Illinois Arts Alliance.
Additional instruction will cover arts administration responsibilities
including board development, financial statement analysis, marketing and
audience development, working with a unionized labor force,
fundraising, and stewarding long-term relationships with funders and
donors. The program will also be observed by auditors who will attend
PICF sessions to observe and foster their own professional network.
All participants are thrilled to be guided by Chen. “Maestro Chen is a
deep artist and an inspiring leader…she brings a contagious energy to
her music making and understands the importance of the conductor’s role
in galvanizing positive change in our communities through the spirit of
music,” states Patel.
This seminal program is made possible through support from The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, The Chicago Community Trust, the Ann and Gordon Getty Foundation and the League of American Orchestras. “These organizations have been instrumental in allowing the Chicago Sinfonietta to expand Project Inclusion,” confirms Chen.
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