Roderick Dunk is one of Britain's most versatile conductors. Born in
Birmingham, he studied double bass and conducting at the Birmingham
School of Music, before following the long tradition of conductors who
have learned their craft from within the orchestra, as a member of both
the BBC Symphony Orchestra and the BBC Concert Orchestra. By 1990
Roderick's increasing commitment to conducting and arranging saw him put
away his double bass for good. Since then, he has been constantly in
demand as a conductor with a wide variety of orchestras, both in the UK
and abroad. He appears frequently with the BBC Concert Orchestra,
including regular broadcasts of BBC Radio 2's 'Friday Night is Music
Night'. The many other British orchestras he has conducted include the
Hallé Orchestra, the CBSO, the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, the
Manchester Camerata, the Northern Chamber Orchestra, the Guildford
Philharmonic Orchestra and the East of England Orchestra (now Sinfonia
Viva). In 1999 he was appointed Principal Conductor of the New Queen's
Hall Light Orchestra.
With
the London Symphony Orchestra he has made a number of commercial recordings,
including symphonies by Brahms, Mozart and Beethoven, as well as an
anthology of Broadway hits entitled 'That's Entertainment'. He has also
recorded with the BBC Concert Orchestra, the London Philharmonic Orchestra,
the Philharmonia, the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, the Prague Symphony
Orchestra and the Vienna Symphony Orchestra.
In the operatic field Roderick was Musical Director for Travelling
Opera's production of Carmen, which he subsequently recorded for Carlton
Classics. He also directed La Bohème, Madam Butterfly and Die Fledermaus for
London City Opera, and in the West End he conducted the award-winning Carmen
Jones. In addition he has conducted numerous concert performances with
internationally acclaimed opera singers such as Maria Ewing and Willard
White. Roderick has also devised, along with the singer Bonaventura Bottone,
a series of tribute concerts to great Tenors. The first two of these "Lanza
Remembered" and "The Great Caruso" have been received to great acclaim both
in Britain and Eire. They Plan to tour the concerts further afield in the
future, as well as adding a concert of Richard Tauber to complete the
series.
In the early 1990s Roderick appeared as guest conductor with the
Birmingham Royal Ballet on a number of productions including La Fille Mal
Gardee, Hobson’s choice and The Nutcracker. Some 14 years later in 2005, he
returned to the world of Ballet as guest Music Director for Northern Ballet
Theatre’s new production of La Traviata.
Engagements abroad have included broadcasts and concerts for MDR in Germany,
RTE in Dublin (with whom he is a regular guest conductor) and the Stavanger
Symphony Orchestra in Norway.
In 2001 Roderick was appointed Principal Conductor and Artistic Director of
the Performing Arts Symphony Orchestra. From 2001 to 2004 he conducted
around 30 concerts a year with the orchestra, alongside his many commitments
as a guest conductor with other orchestras in the UK and abroad. During this
time Roderick and the orchestra made commercial recordings for the Pickwick
group on the IMP Classics label.
In 2006 Roderick made his Middle East debut with the British Philharmonic
Orchestra on their tour to Abu Dhabi, performing a number of concerts
devoted to Mozart’s late symphonies, as part of the Abu Dhabi International
Music Festival.
Roderick’s studio and recording work has been broad and varied over the
years, covering all styles from the standard symphonic repertoire to the
last ever recordings of the world renowned Harmonica virtuoso Larry Adler
for Decca Records in 1999.
Roderick also records frequently for the Readers Digest Label with a variety
of orchestras including the London Symphony Orchestra.
