Artist Profile
James Rodgers
Winner of the 2008 "Joy in Singing" competition and the 2007 "Lotte Lenya" contest, James Rodgers was born in Wellington, New Zealand and currently resides in New York City, USA. He holds a Master of Music and a Professional Studies Certificate from the Manhattan School of Music where he was the Orvis Foundation Scholar and was in the studio of Neil Rosenshein. He holds a B.Mus (1st class Hons) from the Victoria University of Wellington where he studied in the studio of Emily Mair. James has performed in the Manhattan School of Music Opera Studio as Sam in Kurt Weill's "Street Scene",Ferrando and Nemorino in opera scenes and in productions of "Lord Byron’s Love Letter" and "The Village Singer". He has also been a member of the American Musical Theatre Ensemble where he played the Baker in Stephen Sondheim’s Into the Woods. In the summer of 2008 James was a member of the “Merola Opera Program” where he sang the title role in Benjamin Britten’s "Albert Herring".
On October 18th, James will appear in recital with pianist Kenneth Merrill at Merkin Recital Hall in Manhattan.
James’ operatic roles include: Monteverdi’s L’Orfeo; Pluto in Offenbach’s Orpheus and the Underworld; Gherardo, Gianni Schichi; Borsa IA, Boris Godunov; Waiter, Der Rosenkavalier. He has also been soloist in a number of choral works including: Weber’s Mass in G; L’Enfance du Christ, Berlioz; Handel’s Messiah; Olivet di Calvary, Maunder; Mozart’s Requiem; Saint-Saens Christmas Oratorio; Vaughn Williams Hodie; Nelson Mass, The Creation, Haydn; Wings of the Morning, John Ritchie; 9th Symphony Beethoven.
Awards and honors include: 2002 Wellington Newspapers Aria; 2002 PACNZ National Young Performer of the Year; the Wellington Rotary Scholarship For Music; the Marie D’Albini Scholarship; the Moyra Todd Scholarship 2003; the Bell Gully Travel Award 2003; the Les and Sonia Andrews Cultural Foundation Scholarship 2004; the 2004 Napier Computer Systems Aria; the Sir Henry Cooper Memorial Scholarship in Music for 2005; semi-finalist for the 2005 Lexus Song Quest; a grant from the Lankhuyzen/Whetu Kairangi Masonic Trust; the Orvis Foundation Scholar at the Manhattan School of Music; winner of the Kurt Weill Foundation, Lotte Lenya Contest 2007.
While studying at Victoria University, James was invited to sing a recital in the Hunter Concert Series, an honor rarely extended to current students. He has also performed in the Nelson Sealord Opera in the Park and as part of the graduation ceremonies for both Victoria University and the Manhattan School of Music.
James has sung master classes with many great artists including: Thomas Hampson, Evelyn Lear, Victoria Clark, Barbara Cook, Warren Jones, Stephen Blier, Anthony Rolfe Johnson, Grace Bumbry and Teresa Kubiak
To find out more about
James Rodgers
visit www.jamesrodgerssinger.com/
James Rodgers has appeared in: