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The American counter-tenor, Douglas (Doug) Dodson, Originally from Spearfish, obtained his his Bachelor of Arts degree in Anthropology from the University of South Dakota (Vermillion) and his Master of Music degree from the Conservatory of Music and Dance at the University of Missouri - Kansas City. He was a 2010 regional finalist in the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions (New England Region) and a 2008 national finalist in the National Society of Arts and Letters National Career Awards Competition in Voice.
Hailed as a “vivid countertenor” (The Wall Street Journal) with a voice that is “bright, pellucid” (The Boston Globe), and “unusually sparkling” (The Kansas City Star), Douglas Dodson is making his mark on opera and concert stages throughout the USA in repertoire ranging from the Baroque to the contemporary.
In recent seasons, this versatile musician bowed as The United Way in the American premiere of Tod Machover’s highly anticipated new opera Death and the Powers, an innovative collaboration between the MIT Media Lab and The American Repertory Theatre performed at the A.R.T. and Chicago Opera Theatre, under the baton of Gil Rose. He also sang Oberon in Benjamin Britten's A Midsummer Night’s Dream with Lowell House Opera in addition to several concert appearances. An experienced Handelian, Douglas Dodson performed the alto solos in George Frideric Handel's Messiah at Music at Marsh Chapel, Kansas City Baroque Consortium, and Handel Choir of Baltimore, and appeared as Athamas in Semele with Handel Choir of Baltimore. He also performed as alto soloist in J.S. Bach's St. Matthew Passion (BWV 244) with Spire Chamber Ensemble (Kansas City) and as Isaac in B. Britten's Canticle II -- Abraham and Isaac with Music at Marsh Chapel.
Other notable engagements from past seasons include: his international debut in 2009 as First Witch/Sailor in Dido and Aeneas with Klang und Raum Festival in Irsee, Germany; David in G.F. Handel's Saul with the Back Bay Chorale (Boston); Argante in the rarely-performed 1731 version of G.F. Handel's Rinaldo with Opera Vivente (Baltimore); the Sorceress in Dido and Aeneas with Flash Opera (Pittsburgh); various roles in Purcell’s Diocelsian, and Evanthes/Bacchus in Johann Georg Conradi's Die schöne und getreue Ariadne with Amherst Early Music Festival. He has also performed as alto soloist in W.A. Mozart's Coronation Mass with Church of the Advent (Boston), as well as in Heinrich Schütz' Magnificat with the Harvard-Radcliffe Chorus, and in several works by Georg Philipp Telemann presented by Exsultemus (Boston), and and J.S. Bach’s B minor Mass (BWV 232) with Music at Marsh Chapel (Boston).
In 2014, Douglas Dodson created the role of Farinelli the Rooster in Guerilla Opera’s world premiere production of Ken Ueno’s opera Gallo. The Boston Globe called his aria “show-stopping” and Lloyd Schwartz (for New York Arts) praised his “impressive and uninhibited” counter-tenor. He also made his role debut as Ottone in L’incoronazione di Poppea, at the Aldeburgh Music Festival in Suffolk, England as a member of the prestigious Britten-Pears Young Artist Programme. He enjoyed a busy year on the concert platform, appearing as alto soloist with the Handel and Haydn Society in J.S. Bach's Lutheran Mass in G Major and Heinrich Schütz' Musikalische Exequien, J.S. Bach's Cantata BWV 78 with Music at Marsh Chapel (Boston), and as counter-tenor soloist in Purcell's Te Deum and Jubilate in D with The Henry Purcell Society of Boston.
Douglas Dodson’s 2015 calendar already promises a number of exciting performances. In May, he returns to Guerilla Opera to create the role of Ignis in the world premiere of Per Bloland’s opera Pedr Solis. He will also sing the role of Didymus in G.F. Handel's Theodora with Music at Marsh Chapel and will perform as soprano II/alto soloist in J.S. Bach's B minor Mass (BWV 232) with Musica Sacra (Cambridge, Massachusetts), among other engagements.
Douglas Dodson can be heard as The United Way on the BMOP/sound label world premiere recording of Death and the Powers. He can also be heard as a regular panelist on the critically acclaimed opera podcast OperaNow!
Douglas Dodson also performs regularly with some of the country’s best professional choral ensembles, including the Handel and Haydn Society Chorus, Seraphic Fire, the Skylark Vocal Ensemble, and the South Dakota Chorale. He currently lives in Boston, Massachusetts. |
