|
The American tenor anmd music pedagogue, David Cody, holds a Bachelor of Music Education degree from Truman State University and masters and doctorate degrees in Vocal Performance from the Indiana University School of Music, where he performed extensively with its noted opera theater. He was also a member of the Indiana University Pro Arte Singers with the Early Music Institute, directed by Thomas Binkley, and was a soloist for their recording of Dufay’s Missa se la face ay pale (Focus label).
David Cody, is very active in the opera and concert scene of the intermountain west as a tenor soloist, musical director, stage director, and clinician. He has sung many leading and supporting operatic roles with such companies as The Opera Theater of St. Louis, The Ohio Light Opera, Intermountain Opera, Rimrock Opera, Nevada Opera Theater and Montana Lyric Opera. He is a frequent soloist in the region performing with the Helena Symphony, Billings Symphony, Bozeman Symphony, Glacier Orchestra, Great Falls Symphony, and the String Orchestra of the Rockies, as well as the Idaho Baroque Festival. He is also an accomplished recitalist, specializing in German Lieder. In 2010, he completed a three year project performing all of Franz Schubert’s great song cycles, Die schöne Müllerin, Die Winterreise, and Schwanengesang.
As a stage director, David Cody was the founder, director and producer of the Intermountain Opera Chamber Ensemble, a professional touring company specializing in one-act operas. He was also chorus master and assistant conductor for Intermountain Opera from 1995 to 2001 in productions of Il Trovatore, Don Giovanni, La Traviata, Le Nozze di Figaro, and Rigoletto. In 2007 he directed Poia: The Blackfeet Story of Scarface, an American opera written in 1907 by Arthur Nevin. This opera was the signature event for Explore the Big Sky as part of the Lewis and Clark Bicentennial.
He is also very active in musical theatre as a musical director and coordinator of University of Montana’s (UM) graduate program in musical theatre. He is a frequent director for the Bigfork Summer Playhouse, the UM School of Theatre/Dance, and the Missoula Children’s Theatre. His new ensemble, the Zootown Cabaret, is quickly making a name for itself in the Missoula music scene.
At The University of Montana, David Cody teaches voice and lectures in Opera History and Musical Theatre History. He also co-directs the UM Opera Theater, which won the Collegiate Opera Production competition of the National Opera Association in 2006 for its production of Mozart’s Le Nozze di Figaro. His voice students have gone on to professional careers in opera, musical theatre, and music education. A fervent advocate of young singers, Dr. Cody served as the director of the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions for the Montana/Idaho/Eastern Washington District. This prestigious annual event awards promising young opera singers with prize money and a chance to sing for the Metropolitan Opera. |
