Berlin-based and American by birth, Roderick Cox’s invitations with the highest level of international ensembles include Philadelphia Orchestra, Boston Symphony, Orchestre de Paris, Los Angeles Philharmonic, Cincinnati Symphony, The Cleveland Orchestra, Philharmonia Orchestra and Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin. He is also founder of the Roderick Cox Music Initiative (RCMI, 2019)— a programme that nurtures and provides scholarships and opportunities for young musicians in order to make music more accessible.  Elk Mountain Productions’ award winning 2020 documentary film Conducting Life maps his journey and reflects his passionate belief in the transformative power of music. 

Recent highlights include Rundfunk-Sinfonieorchester Berlin, Philharmonia Orchestra, City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, Royal Liverpool Philharmonic, Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, Detroit Symphony Orchestra, Minnesota Orchestra, Seattle Symphony, and the Aspen Music Festival Chamber Orchestra.  

Roderick Cox’s notable recording with Seattle Symphony Orchestra of William Dawson’s Negro Folk Symphony was released in February 2023 and received high praise by the New York Times as one of the top five recordings to listen to along with receiving a five-star rating by the BBC Music Magazine. Nominated for the 2023 BBC Music Magazine’s Opera Award, Roderick Cox’s recording of Jeanine Tesori’s powerful opera, Blue with Washington National Opera Orchestra in association with San Francisco Classical Recording Company was released on the Pentatone label in March 2022.

Winner of the 2018 Sir Georg Solti Conducting Award by the U.S Solti Foundation, Roderick Cox was born in Macon, Georgia. Roderick Cox attended the Schwob School of Music at Columbus State University, and then later the Northwestern University graduating with a master’s degree in 2011. He was awarded the Robert J. Harth Conducting Prize from the Aspen Music Festival in 2013 and has held fellowships with the Chicago Sinfonietta as part of their Project Inclusion program and at the Chautauqua Music Festival, where he was a David Effron Conducting Fellow. In 2016, Cox was appointed as Associate Conductor of the Minnesota Orchestra, under Osmo Vänskä, for three seasons, having previously served as assistant conductor for a year.