Shelton State Community College Terrific Tuesday Concert Series Presents a Tribute to American Music With Dr. Roderick George
November 15, 2018 – Shelton State Community College’s Terrific Tuesday Concert Series will present A Tribute to American Music with tenor Dr. Roderick George on Tuesday, November 20 at 1:00 p.m. in the Martin Campus Alabama Power Recital Hall. Admission is free, and the event is open to the public.
Tenor Roderick George maintains a distinguished career as a performing artist and teacher. A frequent, highly sought after soloist in major concert and oratorio works, he made his New York Lincoln Center debut as the tenor soloist in Handel’s Messiah at David Geffen Hall. Internationally, he has performed throughout Russia, including concert appearances with the Orpheus Radio Symphony Orchestra and the Symphony Orchestra of the Krasnoyarsk State Opera and Ballet Theatre. He has also performed at various prestigious international festivals and venues including Festival Internacional de Musica Sacra in Ecuador, La Folle Journée in France, Spain’s Festival Internacional de la Porta Ferrada and Festival Internacional de Santander, the Cayman Arts Festival of the Grand Cayman Islands, the American Cathedral in Paris, Lensoveta Palace of Culture in St. Petersburg, Russia, the Royal Dublin Society and Wexford Opera House in Ireland and the Spaso House of the United States Embassy in Moscow. He has sung a diversity of leading lyric tenor opera roles, including his recent role debut as Nemorino in Opera Birmingham’s 2017 production of L’elisir d’amore. 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.
Recipient of the 2013-2014 College of Fine Arts Distinguished Teacher Award, Dr. George is a professor of music and area head of voice in the Department of Music at The University of Montevallo. He holds graduate degrees in voice performance and opera/musical theatre from Florida State University and Southern Illinois University (Carbondale) and completed advanced training in opera studies at the American Institute of Musical Studies in Graz, Austria.
A champion of American art song and an avid song recitalist, his research explores the study and performance of song literature based on the writings of Paul Laurence Dunbar and Langston Hughes. He sang the world premiere of Adolphus Hailstork’s Four Romantic Love Songs on poems of Dunbar for the African American Art Song Alliance Conference held at the University of California, Irvine. An active member of the National Association of Teachers of Singing, he was selected nationally for the prestigious NATS Teacher-Intern Program held at Colorado State University. His primary voice teachers have included tenors Larry Gerber, Everett McCorvey, Alfonse Anderson, and soprano Jeanine Wagner. In competition, he was named a regional finalist in the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions and the NATS Artist Awards competition, and a finalist in the Orpheus National Voice Competition, among others. Dr. George maintains a personal website at www.roderickgeorge.com.
This program is one of many in an annual Parade of American Music encouraged by the National Federation of Music Clubs, which was founded in 1898 and is among the largest arts organizations in the country. Members of the Federation work to create a dynamic musical and cultural environment in their communities through education and sponsorship of musical events. This program is presented in conjunction with the Tuscaloosa Music Club, the local AFMC chapter.
Shelton State’s Terrific Tuesday Concert Series is designed to showcase a variety of repertory styles. Weekly performances are offered by guest artists as well as Shelton State faculty and students.
For more information, contact Lillian Roberts at 205.391.2399 or lroberts@sheltonstate.edu.
