Distinguished Tenor RODERICK GEORGE has garnered acclaim in performances of a broad range of concert and operatic repertoire throughout the United States and abroad. Regularly engaged as a concert soloist in major orchestral and oratorio works, he made his New York Lincoln Center debut as the tenor soloist in Handel’s Messiah with the National Chorale at David Geffen Hall and he was recently a featured soloist for the 2019 Gotham Sings Choral Festival and Ensemble Showcase at Carnegie Hall.  Recent concert performances have included Mozart Requiem with the Northwest Florida Symphony Orchestra and the Pensacola Symphony, Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony with the Alabama Symphony Orchestra and the Tuscaloosa Symphony, Messiah with the El Paso Choral Society, and  Bach Magnificat and Messiah with the Alabama Symphony Orchestra. Internationally, he has  performed throughout Russia, including concert appearances with the Orpheus Radio Symphony Orchestra and the Krasnoyarsk Philharmonic Orchestra. 

 

George has also made appearances at numerous international music festivals and venues including Festival Internacional de Musica Sacra in Ecuador, La Folle Journée in France, Festival Internacional de la Porta Ferrada in Spain, Festival Internacional de Santander, the Cayman Arts Festival of the Grand Cayman Islands, Notre-Dame Cathedral and the American Cathedral in Paris, Lensoveta Palace of Culture in St. Petersburg, the Royal Dublin Society, Wexford Opera House in Ireland and the Spaso House of the United States Embassy in Moscow.  He has performed a diversity of leading lyric tenor opera roles including Rodolfo in La Bohéme, Pinkerton in Madama Butterfly, Tamino in Die Zauberflöte, Don Ottavio in Don Giovanni, Alfredo in La Traviata, Sportin’ Life in Porgy and Bess, Roméo in Roméo et Juliette, Gérald in Lakmé, the title role of Albert Herring, Ferrando in Cosi fan tutte, Ralph Rackstraw in HMS Pinafore, Benedict in Beatrice and Benedict, Camille de Rosillion in The Merry Widow and David in I Was Looking at the Ceiling and then I Saw the Sky.  Recent stage performances have included his role debut as Nemorino in L’elisir d’amore with Opera Birmingham and the role of Leader in Union Avenue Opera's production of Lost in the Stars.

 

A champion of American art song, George performed the world premier of Adolphus Hailstork’s Four Romantic Love Songs on poems of Paul Laurence Dunbar at the 2012 African American Art Song Alliance Conference in Irvine, California. In 2013, he premiered four art songs on poetry of African American poets, including two songs on texts by Dunbar and Hughes, composed by Alabama composer Mary Jackson.  Also noted for his interpretations of art songs by Harry T. Burleigh, George was part of a lecture-recital presentation titled "A Vein of Fresh Melody – H. T. Burleigh Ushers in the African American Art Song"  at the 2017 Art Song Alliance Conference. A gifted recitalist, his recent recital engagements have included his lecture recital presentation titled "Poetry in Song: Celebrating the Poems of Paul Laurence Dunbar" at the University of Pikeville (KY), "Honor, Honor: A Salute to Art Songs and Spirituals by African American Composers" for the Distinguished Artist Series at Gardner-Webb University (NC) and a recital performance for the Shivers Concert Series in Colorado Springs, Colorado.  More recently, the tenor performed Doug McDonnell’s song cycle, Langston’s Lot for tenor voice, alto saxophone and piano for the artist series at Heidelberg University. Lauded for his poignant interpretations of the American Negro spiritual, George has recorded and toured extensively, including multiple concert tours throughout the U.S., Spain, France, Ireland and South America, as a featured soloist with the internationally acclaimed American Spiritual Ensemble.

 

In addition to his active performance career, Dr. George is Professor of Music and Voice Area Coordinator in the Department of Music at the University of Montevallo (AL), where he was named a recipient of the College of Fine Arts Distinguished Teacher Award. Among his credentials are the Doctor of Music degree (Voice Performance) from The Florida State University College of Music and the Master of Music degree (Opera and Musical Theater) from the School of Music at Southern Illinois University. He received advanced training in opera at the American Institute of Musical Studies in Graz, Austria. An active member of the National Association of Teachers of Singing, he was one of twelve voice teachers selected nationally for the prestigious NATS Teacher-Internship Program held at Colorado State University  where he studied vocal pedagogy under the tutelage of tenor Clifton Ware.  Additionally, he currently serves as the Southeastern Region Liaison to the NATS Foundation Board. He has also studied voice with tenors Larry Gerber, Everett McCorvey, Alfonse Anderson and soprano Jeanine Wagner. In competition, he was a Regional Finalist in the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions and the NATS Artist Awards competition, and a finalist in the Orpheus National Competition, among others. (Updated 9/19)

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PHOTO: Leader in Lost in the Stars, Union Avenue Opera (credit: John Lamb)

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