Roderick Cox – Kinfolk Notes

In Berlin, Stephanie d’Arc Taylor meets the man who makes music move—orchestra conductor Roderick Cox.
Words by Stephanie d’Arc Taylor. Photograph by Dennis Weber.

The stereotypical orchestra conductor is a broody spirit—a whirlwind of wild hair, flashing eyes and melodramatic physicality. But the award-winning conductor Roderick Cox has struck a chord, despite his perfectly sensible haircut. At age 32, he has already performed (or will debut this year) with orchestras in Los Angeles, Paris, London and New York.

Over cappuccinos near his home in Berlin, Cox took exception to the idea that conducting is defined by physical histrionics. Rather, the success of a conductor is determined by whether they can develop an opinion on a piece of music, and convince an orchestra to tell a new version of an old story. As a black man from Georgia, Cox’s profile offers the overwhelmingly white world of classical music a new perspective: A 2014 study by the League of American Orchestras found that less than 2% of musicians and just over 4% of conductors in American orchestras are black. Plenty of people are passionate about classical music, and plenty of musicians perform at an international level. It’s the ability to interpret the language of music, Cox says, using one’s own experiences as a conduit, that makes for world-class conductors. After all, literally speaking, a conductor is something through which energy is transferred. Judging from his performances, there’s a fair amount of eye-flashing too.

SDT: You’re from Macon, Georgia, which is not the first place that comes to mind when we think of classical music.

RC: There have been some amazing artists to come out of Macon, Georgia! The music is rich there, from Otis Redding, the Allman Brothers, Little Richard, and so forth.

SDT: Was music a big part of your life growing up?

RC: We were huge churchgoers, so I was with music all the time. Not classical, but gospel. That’s how my mom would wake us up in the morning. I also benefited from a really robust music education program in my elementary school. I remember that first day vividly: We went into a classroom and tried out real instruments. The band director assigned me percussion but I changed to French horn in high school.

SDT: When you were a kid, what did you think a conductor’s job was?

RC: Our band director was an educator, so I thought I wanted to be an educator. Now I’m the organizer—you’ve got the calendars, the trips, you’re seeing who’s here, etc.

SDT: Forgive this question, but what does a conductor actually do?

RC: It seems we have to answer this question a lot. Conductors need to have a huge amount of knowledge of not only the music, but the instruments. Usually we’ve played many of them, if not mastered them. You’re working with experts in all their fields. How do you put all those experts together?

SDT: And what’s the conductor an expert in?

RC: We’re experts on the orchestra as a collective. We have all the instrument parts in our heads. A first violinist playing in an orchestra only sees their part; they might not know what the tuba is doing. We’re able to coordinate what everyone is doing to make the story cohesive. Most importantly, you have to have something meaningful to say about the music. You’re not just showing that the orchestra can play a piece of music. That’s what makes the performance exceptional.

SDT: You can have performances that are technically perfect, but—

RC: Boring!

SDT: Technically perfect, but not opinionated.

RC: Yes, exactly. As a kid from Macon, Georgia, sometimes I think, Who are you to have an opinion on this Brahms symphony? You try to use the information you have, and your knowledge of the composer and their culture to strengthen that interpretation.

SDT: It’s a very physical job. Have you ever been injured on the podium?

RC: I’ve pulled muscles. I have to stretch before and after concerts. I see a massage therapist and a chiropractor.

SDT: At the gym do you work on certain muscle groups?

RC: I have to be careful at the gym. Many guys are about bulking up their chest, but I need range of motion with my arms. When you’re trying to get a soft, beautiful sound out of an orchestra, it’s a little weird if you look like The Rock.

SDT: Could you do your job sitting down?

RC: Certain conductors do conduct sitting down. As long as the hands are visible to the orchestra and there’s eye contact.

SDT: What about with your eyes closed?

RC: I haven’t seen too many conductors conduct with their eyes closed, except Herbert von Karajan [the Austrian conductor who led the Berlin Philharmonic for over three decades]. I feel like that would throw me off balance! I would fall over.

SDT: Why don’t rock bands need conductors?

RC: They have a rhythm section that keeps a beat. You have that in jazz bands, you have that in pop music—it’s the simple rhythm underneath it all. In most classical music, that’s not the case. It’s an unstable rhythm.

SDT: Most conductors seem to have very striking faces—Esa-Pekka Salonen’s aquiline nose, or Zubin Mehta’s hypnotizing eyes. Does it help to have an expressive face?

RC: It’s not so much about being expressive. There’s something quite magical, I can’t put my finger on it…. There’s a telepathic thing that’s happening—you have to find a way to show people your soul. That’s tough to teach. It’s the difference between looking at someone while they’re talking, and really listening to them. Orchestras can tell. That’s the line between good conductors and okay conductors. We’re not the smartest or the most knowledgeable, but we’re able to communicate to the orchestras what’s in our brains, what’s in our hearts and souls through our gestures.

SDT: What would happen if a conductor walked off the stage mid-performance?

RC: Um, for what reason?

SDT: If they were about to be sick, maybe?

RC: Well, the orchestra would have to stop! But there’s a cover conductor who’s ready to get on stage at a moment’s notice. It’s an expensive thing if the show can’t go on. There have been cases, depending on the repertoire, where orchestras have managed to have the concertmaster [the first violin, to the left of the conductor] lead from the front stand.

SDT: Is the vocabulary of conducting standardized, or do you put your own spin on it?

RC: Much of it is standardized. But when you’re working with a new orchestra, they have to get to know your specific vocabulary. The first rehearsal is when I learn about the orchestra and they learn about me. That’s why first rehearsals are usually closed to audiences.

SDT: It’s a symbiotic relationship between the orchestra and a conductor, learning about each other and growing together. Where does the audience fit into that?

RC: One thing I’ve learned is that an audience member anywhere in the world can see when something special is happening on stage. As classical musicians, we should try our best to give our audience members that magnetism, because that’s what keeps us relevant. When we do it well, audiences get it.

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