Roderick Cox appointed as new Music Director of National Opera Orchestra of Montpellier

The National Opera Orchestra of Montpellier announced on Tuesday that the African-American conductor Roderick Cox has been appointed to the position of music director, succeeding the Dane Michael Schonwandt who held this position between 2015 and 2023.

“This young American conductor of great talent will accompany us brilliantly (…) towards one of our great goals: to make Montpellier one of the musical capitals of Europe”, he said congratulations to the president of the Opera Orchestra, Bernard Serrou.

Mr Cox said he was “hugely honoured” and “committed to perpetuating the legacy of artistic excellence that characterizes this institution while harnessing the transformative power of music to chart bold new paths, diversifying our programs and expanding new audiences”, in the press release. of his post.

At 36, he became the youngest permanent conductor at the head of the Opera Orchestra.

This is also the first time he has been music director of a national orchestra, after prestigious periods at the Boston Symphony Orchestra or the Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin among others.

He is from Georgia, in the United States, and launched in 2019, in parallel with his activities as a director, the Roderick Cox Music Initiative: a training program to help young American musicians of color financially.

He also campaigns for greater integration of the African-American resource in conservatory or university training. Roderick Cox specially designed the “Song of America: A Celebration of Black Music” program at the Elbphilharmonie in Hamburg.

“His artistic standards and his commitment to diversifying audiences” were also praised by the mayor of Montpellier, Michaël Delafosse.

Roderick Cox will begin his career 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.