Biographies taken from/https://www.tenorscookdixonyoung.com
VICTOR TRENT COOK
A native New Yorker, Mr. Cook began singing at the age of three in his home church, The House of David. Upon discovering his unique talent he was enrolled in the Brooklyn Boys Chorus School of Musical Training, under the direction of James McCarthy. Participating in its concert choir enabled Cook to travel throughout the United States and Rome, where he sang for the Pope. He then was selected to sing the boy alto solo in Leonard Bernstein’s “Chichester Psalms” with the New York Philharmonic, directed by Zubin Mehta, his first professional endeavor. Mr. Cook’s journey continued with singing as boy soprano soloist with renowned conductors such as James Levine and Seiji Ozawa, and performing in the world’s most famous venues, such as
the White House, Carnegie Hall, Avery Fisher hall, Boston Symphony Hall, and the John F. Kennedy Center. He was discovered by a New York commercial agent, which led to his introduction to theatrical mogul Joseph Papp. Papp embraced Cook’s abilities and opened the door for him to appear in numerous Off-Broadway productions, including The Haggahdah, Romance in Hard Times, Little Mighty, Moby Dick, and Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat. He eventually went from Off-Broadway to his first Broadway production, Don’t Get God Started, for which he received raves reviews. He also competed 10 consecutive times on “Star Search,” where his repeated wins led him to gain the title of Star Search 1998 “$100,000 Male Vocal Champion!” The exposure cause Mr. Cook to be approached by various record labels and he ultimately signed with CBS Records. While recording his CBS Records debut album he performed throughout Europe and Japan, where he starred in such renowned shows as Body and Soul and Harlem Symphony. Next, having acquired a thirst for television, he decided to come back to the States to try his luck on the small screen. He won roles on various soaps, including All My Children. Mr. Cook also made guest and feature appearances on such hit shows as The Days & Night Of Molly Dodd, The Arsenio Hall Show, and more recently the Today Show and the Rosie O’Donnell Show. He also made room for the big screen, appearing in two featured films, Hagin’with the Homeboys and Starlight. Mr. Cook’s film projects were New York-based, which kept Broadway’s temptation close. He starred in such hits as St. Louis Woman, opposite Vanessa Williams, and Smokey Joe’s Café, for which he was nominated for a Tony Award, Most recently, Mr. Cook has been seen touring with Cinderella, starring Eartha Kitt, as well as touring, recording and performing as part of the well-known ensemble Cook, Dixon and Young.
RODRICK DIXON
Rodrick Dixon possesses a tenor voice of extraordinary range and versatility that has earned him the respect and attention of leading conductors, orchestras, and opera companies throughout North America. Notable recent engagements in 2011 include his return to the Ravinia Festival in Das Klagende Lied, The Bells; his Cincinnati Opera debut in the production of Rigoletto as the Duke; Cincinnati Symphony Classical Roots Concert and The May Festival. In 2010, he had three major recording and film releases: Arthaus Musik DVD/DVD Blu-ray Zemlinsky's Der Zwerg (Conlon, LA Opera, 2010); Albany Records CD
Recorded Music of the African Diaspora (2010) and EMI/Manhattan Records DVD, CD release Hallelujah Broadway (2010). He earned critical acclaim and an invitation to return with Maestro Conlon for six seasons to the Cincinnati May Festival as tenor soloist in Beethoven's Symphony No. 9, Carmina Burana, Rachmaninoff's The Bells, Aleko, Glagolitic Mass, Rossini's Stabat Mater and with the Philadelphia Orchestra for more performances of Der Zwerg. He has also appeared at the Vail Music Festival as tenor soloist in Beethoven's Ninth Symphony conducted by Marin Alsop.
In 2009, he made his Los Angeles Philharmonic debut in the title role of Stravinsky's Oedipus Rex conducted by Esa-Pekka Salonen and directed by Peter Sellars; and repeated the production at the Sydney Arts Festival in Australia, 2010. He also appeared as tenor soloist with the Atlanta Symphony conducted by Robert Spano.
Elsewhere on the operatic stage, Mr. Dixon made his debut with Los Angeles Opera as Walther von der Vogelweide in Tannhauser; Michigan Opera Theater as Tonio in La Fille Du Regiment; Todi Music Festival as Lenski in Eugene Onegin and as Tonio; Portland Opera in the title role of Les Contes d'Hoffmann; Opera Columbus as Prince for the world premiere of Vanqui; and the Virginia Opera as Sportin' Life in Porgy & Bess.
During his association with the Lyric Opera of Chicago's Center for American Artists, he appeared on their stage in many productions, most notably as the Prince in the world premiere of The Song of Majnun, plus performances at the Ravinia Festival and a series of concerts at the Chatelet Theater in Paris.
A gifted recitalist, Mr. Dixon earned rave reviews for his Dame Myra Hess Memorial Concert broadcast honoring Roland Hayes on WFMT-FM/Chicago. He has also presented pre-concert recitals at the Cincinnati May Festival; and with Soprano Alfreda Burke, he completed a 30-city tour for Community Concerts, a duet concert Following in the Footsteps at Hampton University, duet recitals at the Umbria Music Festival in Italy and Barbados. He participated as a guest soloist for the Cincinnati Symphony's New Year's Eve Celebration.
As a part of The Tenors: Cook, Dixon & Young, he has appeared in concert with the Atlanta Symphony, Hollywood Bowl, Cincinnati Symphony, Pittsburgh Symphony, Dayton Philharmonic, Colorado Symphony, West Virginia Symphony, Chicago Symphony Orchestra at Millennium Park; Elgin Symphony, Rackham Symphony Chorus and the Concordia Orchestra at Lincoln Center. Mr. Dixon has appeared in the show Hallelujah Broadway with the Cincinnati Pops, May Festival Chorus and Maestro John Morris Russell at Riverbend.
His extensive television credits include Miss World 2012 live from Ordos City, Inner Mongolia China, PBS specials: Hallelujah Broadway (Prague, 2010), The US Air Force 60th Anniversary Gala (2007), Cook, Dixon & Young Volume One (2005), Washington Opera Gala at Constitution Hall (2003), The Mark Twain Awards Honoring Whoopi Goldberg at Kennedy Center (2002), My Favorite Broadway: The Love Songs at City Center (2000). Other TV appearances include: The Tavis Smiley Show on PBS/NPR (2006), The Jerry Lewis Telethon (2002-2003), Marshall Fields' Christmas Commercials (2002), TV One's Christmas Special (2006/07), WGN's A Christmas Glory (2003 and 2006), The Tony Awards (1998), NBC's Today Show, Good Morning America, The Rosie O'Donnell Show (2002) and The Wayne Brady Show. Rodrick Dixon's musical theater credits include the original cast of Ragtime on Broadway, Show Boat at the Auditorium Theatre, Pops Concerts at Grant Park Music Festival, The Chicagoland Pops Orchestra at the Rosemont Theater and the Cincinnati Pops with Eric Kunzel.
Mr. Dixon's recordings include (Sony/BMG), PBS Great Performances Cook, Dixon & Young Volume One (2005); Follow That Star Christmas CD (2003); Liam Lawton's Sacred Land (2006); and Rodrick Dixon Live in Concert (2008). Annually, Mr. Dixon has performed concerts of Too Hot To Handel at Detroit Opera House and at the Auditorium Theatre under the baton of Suzanne Acton. For upcoming performances visit www.pinnaclearts.com Also visit Tenor Rod Dixon at www.diburkeinc.com and http://www.facebook.com/people/Rodrick-Dixon/100001421174042.
THOMAS YOUNG
Grammy-award winning lyric tenor Thomas Young has appeared as a principal soloist in the major concert halls and opera houses of some 30 countries, and under the baton of, among others, Zubin Mehta, Roger Norrington, Simon Rattle, and Esa-Pekka Salonen. In addition to his distinguished performance career, Mr. Young serves as a tenured Professor of Music at Sarah Lawrence College.
Known for his unique dramatic and musical intelligence, as well as beauty of tone and exceptional technique, Mr. Young is recognized as today’s foremost interpreter of tenor roles in contemporary opera.
Mr. Young made his Chicago Lyric Opera debut in the world premiere of Anthony Davis’ Amistad as the Trickster God, a role written for him by Mr. Davis. Mr. Young made his New York City Opera debut singing the dual roles of Street and Elijah Muhammad in his first collaboration with Davis for the world premiere of X: The Life and Times of Malcolm X. After this “brilliantly chameleonic performance” (Donal Henahan – The New York Times), New York City Opera invited him back to sing Aron in Schoenberg’s Moses und Aron and then Desportes in Zimmermann’s Die Soldaten. Anthony Davis went on to compose another role for Mr. Young in the science-fiction opera Under the Double Moon, which premiered at the
Opera Theatre of St. Louis.
Marking his San Francisco Opera debut in John Adams’ The Death of Klinghoffer, Mr. Young created the role of Molqi and the role of Jonathan Rumor for the world premiere at the Opera de la Monnale in Brussels. Under the direction of Peter Sellars and baton of Kent Nagano, performances followed at the Opera de Lyon, Vienna Festival, and Brooklyn Academy of Music. Called on 48 hours notice, Mr. Young made his Covent Garden debut as the rebel Schwalb in Hindemith’s Mathis der Mahler, again under the
direction of Peter Sellars with Esa-Pekka Salonen conducting.
Mr. Young sang Polo in Tan Dun’s Marco Polo at the Hong Kong Festival, a role which he created for the Biennale Festival in Munich. Performances followed in Glasgow, London, Amsterdam, Torino and Tokyo. Mr. Young’s work at the Netherlands Opera includes Stravinsky’s Biblical Pieces under the direction of Peter Sellars with Reinbert de Leeuw conducting, Birtwistle’s Punch and Judy, Schoenberg’s Von Heute auf Morgan directed by Pierre Audi and conducted by Oliver Knussen, and Shostakovich’s Lady Macbeth of Mtensk directed by David Poutney. Other roles include Stravinsky’s Oedipus Rex in the title role, Gounod’s Faust in the title role, the U.S. premiere of Rossini’s Armida in the role of Rinaldo at Tulsa Opera, Handel’s Imeneo at New York City’s Town Hall and Gershwin’s Porgy and Bess in the role of Sportin’ Life at Houston Grand Opera.
Mr. Young was called on 48 hours notice to sing Aron in Schoenberg’s Moses und Aron at the Maggio Musicale Florentino Festival in Florence. Under the baton of Zubin Mehta, Mr. Young’s singing was “… just short of miraculous” (Corriere della Sera).
Mr. Young’s North American concert appearances include performances in Blitzstein’s Airborne Symphony and Schmidt’s The Book of Seven Seals with the American Symphony Orchestra at Avery Fisher Hall; Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony with the Brooklyn Philharmonic conducted by Dennis Russell Davies at
Brooklyn Academy of Music and Avery Fisher Hall; Mozart’s Great Mass in C conducted by Lukas Foss at Brooklyn Academy of Music; Too Hot to Handel, and Duke Ellington’s Sacred Songs with Concordia Orchestra conducted by Marin Alsop at Alice Tully Hall; J.S. Bach’s Mass in B Minor and Beethoven’s Missa Solemnis with the Long Island Philharmonic conducted by Christopher Keene; Mahler’s Das Lied von der Erde with St. Lukes Chamber Orchestra, Philippe Herreweghe conducting; Mozart’s Messiah with the St. Louis Symphony conducted by Andrew Parrott; Elliot Carter’s In Sleep In Thunder with the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra, Oliver Knussen conducting.
Mr. Young’s national tours include Jesus Christ Superstar in the role of Judas and The Wiz as The Wiz. Regional musical theatre appearances include Pippin as the Leading Player, Evita as Che, and Sweet Charity as Daddy Brubeck.
Recent engagements include touring, recording and performing as part of the well known ensemble Three Mo’ Tenors and now as Cook Dixon & Young; Michael Tipett’s A Child of our Time under the direction of Sir Roger Norrington and Poulenc’s Les Mamelles de Tiresias in concert version conducted by Sir Simon Rattle, both with the Los Angeles Philharmonic; Kurt Weill’s Street Scene in the role of Sam Kaplan with the Radio Symphony Orchestra Berlin, Lawrence Foster conducting; Stravinsky’s The Flood at Carnegie Hall with the London Sinfonietta under the direction of Oliver Knussen; Bernstein’s Mass as the Celebrant with the Cincinnati Orchestra, James Conlon conducting; Verdi’s Requiem with the Colorado Symphony, Marin Alsop conducting; and a staged production of Tan Dun’s Marco Polo in the role of Polo at the Zagreb Bennale in Croatia.
Mr. Young’s recordings include the Grammy-nominated X: The Life and Times of Malcolm X, on Gramavison; John Adams’ Grammy-nominated The Death of Klinghoffer on Elektra/Nonesuch; Tan Dun’s Marco Polo on SONY, named Opera of the Year by Opera Magazine; and George Gershwin’s Blue Monday on Telarc. Most recently he can be heard on the multi-Grammy award winning recording of William Bolcom's Songs of Innocence and Experience, Leonard Slatkin conducting, and Too Hot to Handel, Marin Alsop conducting, both on Naxos.
Mr. Young’s own recordings include High Standards and Claire de Lune, Sister Moon on ESSAY Records; and A Star in the East, A Spiritual Christmas on Ocean Records. Mr. Young is the singing voice of Mighty Mouse on Ralph Bakshi’s animated series.
Ah! Mes Ami Pour Mon Ame
THREE MO TENORS-TODAY I SING THE BLUES
Heather Headley " He Touched Me " / Three Mo' Tenors ~ medley ~
Nessun Dorma
Cook, Dixon, & Young performance promo
No comments
Post a Comment