Roderick George

Tenor Roderick George enjoys a diverse performance career in opera, on the concert stages, and as a recitalist. He made his Dayton Opera debut during the 2010-2011 season as Sportin’ Life in Porgy and Bess and performed the role of Roméo in Roméo et Juliette for the Southern Illinois Music Festival.  His other recent highlights have included the role of Sportin’ Life with Opera Theater of Pittsburgh and Gérald in Lakmé in St. Louis with Union Avenue Opera, both during the 2009-2010 season. Among his other opera roles are Rodolfo (La Bohème), Don Ottavio (Don Giovanni), Tamino in (Die Zauberflöte), Alfredo (La Traviata), Ferrando (Cosí fan tutte), Albert (Albert Herring), Benedict (Beatrice and Benedict) Camille de Rosillon (The Merry Widow), Ralph Rackstraw (HMS Pinafore), and David (I was looking at the ceiling and then I saw the Sky).  

An active concert artist, Dr. George is heard regularly as a soloist in major concert and oratorio works, including recent performances of Rossini's Stabat Mater and Gounod's Messe Solennelle with the Tulsa Oratorio Chorus, Hailstork’s Done Made My Vow at Indiana University South Bend, Elijah with the Tuscaloosa Symphony Orchestra, Mozart’s Requiem with the Southeastern Chamber Orchestra, Carmina Burana at Jacksonville State University and the University of Nevada Las Vegas, and Beethoven’s Choral Fantasy with the Alabama Symphony. His concert performances have also included Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony, Haydn’s Creation, Bach’s Magnificat, Mozart’s Coronation Mass and Mass in C Minor, Bruckner’s Te Deum, Schubert’s Stabat Mater and Mass in G, Honegger’s King David, Dubois’ Seven Last Words, and Handel’s Israel in Egypt and Messiah.  Upcoming solo-concert engagements include Bach’s Mass in B Minor with the Prentice Concert Chorale, Beethoven’s Ninth with the Tuscaloosa Symphony Orchestra, and Mozart’s Coronation Mass at the University of Alabama (Birmingham).

Dr. George has recorded and toured extensively as a soloist with the acclaimed American Spiritual Ensemble, including recent performances at the ACDA Southern Division Conference in Memphis, the Riverside Church in New York City, and two concert tours of Spain.  He has also been a featured soloist in several orchestral concerts in Austria, including a benefit concert for Doctors without borders and a gala concert celebrating the operettas of Austrian composer Robert Stolz.  Additionally, he has been a featured artist for two consecutive years in operatic concerts with Opera Noire of New York for the Vineyard Playhouse African-American Festival of Theater and Music on Martha’s Vineyard.

A champion of the African American art song, Dr. George has a specific interest in the study and performance of song literature based on poems of Paul Laurence Dunbar and Langston Hughes.  He will premier Adolphus Hailstork’s Four Romantic Love Songs for tenor and piano on poems of Dunbar at the 2012 African American Art Song Conference at the University of California Irvine. His recent recital engagements have included varied programs at Jacksonville State University, Tennessee State University, Fayetteville State University, Shelton State Community College, and Samford University.  In competition, he was a Regional Finalist in the Metropolitan Opera Auditions and the NATS Artist Awards Competition, and a finalist and recipient of the Puccini Award in the Orpheus National Competition, among others.

Dr. George is currently an associate professor of music and head of the voice area at the University of Montevallo, where he teaches voice, diction for singers, and vocal literature. He holds degrees, including the Doctor of Music degree in voice performance, from Florida State University, Southern Illinois University (Carbondale), and Stillman College.  He received advanced training in opera at the American Institute of Musical Studies in Graz, Austria, and he was an artist in residence with Amarillo Opera and an apprentice artist with Des Moines Metro Opera. An active member of the National Association of Teachers of Singing, he was selected to participate in the highly selective NATS Teacher-Intern Program held at Colorado State University in 2004, where he studied vocal pedagogy under the tutelage of Clifton Ware.  A native of Mobile, Alabama, Dr. George joined the UM faculty in 2004, having previously taught on the faculty at Stillman College. He maintains a personal website at www.roderickgeorge.com