Biographies  

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’s dramatic stage presence and stunning vocal qualities have established him as one of the rising stars in opera, contemporary opera, oratorio, concerts and recitals.   In 2009, Mr. Dixon will make his Los Angeles Philharmonic debut as Oedipus Rex and return to the Cincinnati May Festival. In 2008 for the Los Angeles Opera and Philadelphia Orchestra,  Rodrick Dixon delivered a powerfully gripping performance as the Dwarf in the opera Der Zwerg conducted by James Conlon. Opera News considered his portrayal of the Dwarf a triumph! In the spring and summer of 08’ at the Cincinnati May Festival, he performed the Beethoven 9th,

appeared as Trabuco in the concert version of La Forza del Destino and reunited with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra at Millennium Park for a Gala Concert celebrating the city of Chicago’s 2016 Olympic bid. 

In 2007, Rodrick Dixon made his LA Opera debut as Walther von der Vogelweide in Wagner’s Tannhaeuser and performed excerpts of Korngold’s Die Tote Stadt and Schuloff’s Flammen for Recovered Voices.  He returned to the May Festival to sing Rossini’s Stabat Mater; appeared as Lenski in Todi Music Festival’s summer production of Eugene Onegin; and filmed the PBS special The United States Air Force 60th Anniversary: A Musical Celebration.  The rest of the 2007 season included duet recitals with Soprano Alfreda Burke for the Umbria Music Festival in Italy, concerts in Anchorage, Los Angeles, Washington D.C., Tennessee, Detroit, Toronto, Dayton and Chicago.  He participated as a guest soloist for the Cincinnati Symphony’s New Year’s Eve Celebration.  

Mr. Dixon’s additional opera credits include Michigan Opera Theater’s and Todi Music Festival’s La Fille Du Regiment (Tonio).  He made his debut in Portland Opera’s Les Contes d’Hoffmann (Hoffmann); Columbus Opera’s world premiere Vanqui (Prince); Virginia Opera’s Porgy & Bess (Sportin’ Life).  In 1992, he joined the Lyric Opera Center for American Artists.  His Lyric Opera of Chicago credits include appearances in Don Quichote, Il Trovatore, McTeague, Un Ballo in Maschera, La Boheme, La Traviata, and Prince in the world premiere of The Song of Majnun.  As a Lyric Opera center member, he participated in The Rossini Gala at the Ravinia Festival and a series of concerts at the Chatele Theater in Paris.  

Other notable symphony engagements include Rachmaninoff’s The Bells (Op.35) and Orff’s Carmina Burana for the May Festival.  He performed the Beethoven 9th Symphony and a concert of Opera & Broadway for the Vail Music Festival, under the baton of Marin Alsop. From 2001-2004 he made orchestral appearances with the Tenors Cook, Dixon & Young at Atlanta Symphony, the Hollywood Bowl with the Los Angeles Symphony, Cincinnati Symphony, Pittsburgh Symphony, Dayton Symphony, Denver Symphony, West Virginia Symphony, Chicago Symphony at Millennium Park; Elgin Symphony, Rackham Symphony Chorus and the Concordia Orchestra at Lincoln Center.  Mr. Dixon received rave reviews for his Dame Myra Hess Memorial Concert broadcast honoring Roland Hayes on WFMT-FM/Chicago.  He has been presented in pre-concert recitals at the May Festival; completed a 30 city tour for Community Concerts (2000-2001) and a duet concert Following in the Footsteps (Hampton University) both with Soprano Alfreda Burke.   

Mr. Dixon’s most recent recordings (Sony/BMG), PBS Great Performances Cook, Dixon & Young Volume One released in (2005), Follow That Star Christmas CD (2003), Liam Lawton’s Sacred Land (2006) Rodrick Dixon Live in Concert (2008) and Chicago Olympic Bid Anthem “I Will Stand”  for the 2016 Games (2008).

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, written for Mr. Young,  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. His collaboration with Julius Hemphill and the World Saxophone Quartet resulted in the world premiere of Saxophone Opera “Long Tongues” at The Apollo in New York City.

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. He has also received critical and public acclaim in “Stand Up Shakespeare” directed by Oscar and Tony award-winning Mike Nichols, in New York City.

He has performed jazz concerts with Tito Puente, Clark Terry, Phil Woods, Grady Tate and Doc Cheatham.  Mr. Young has been a featured performer with Ann-Margaret at Caesar’s Palace Las Vegas and Lake Tahoe. Television appearances include featured performer on “Days and Nights of Molly Dodd” with Blair Brown, “Aida’s Brothers and Sisters” on PBS and “The Mitch Miller Show” on CBS.

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 was also a guest performer at the Willa Awards, Shakespeare Theatre, Washington DC to honor Dame Judith Dench.

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. Mr. Young can be heard as a featured soloist on Nancy Wilson’s album “Life, Love, and Harmony”.  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.

Mr. Young’s website is www.thomasyoungtenor.com