Cody S. Parrott
Biography
Conductor, Singer, and Teacher, Cody Parrott, DMA has enjoyed a diverse career as a professional musician and educator for the past two decades. This fall, Dr. Parrott joins the faculty of the School of Music at Illinois Wesleyan University as Director of Choral Activities. Before this appointment, he was Associate Director of Choral Activities at Mississippi State University where he conducted two choirs and taught private voice. He completed doctoral studies in choral conducting at the Butler School of Music at the University of Texas where he was the conductor of the University Treble Chorus who was named the Third Place Winner for the 2023 American Prize in Choral Performance. His doctoral research is focused on modern voice science and how contemporary vocal pedagogy can be applied to the choral music classroom.
Cody entered university academia following a distinguished career as a high school choral music educator within the Texas public school system. During his secondary teaching career, choirs under his direction garnered notable achievements, exemplified by consistent superior commendations at the Texas UIL Choir Evaluations and the prestigious Performance of Distinction recognition at the Madrigal and Chamber Choir Competition in San Antonio. Notably, his choirs have also attained finalist status in various choral festivals and competitions, showcasing their artistic excellence in invited performances across diverse locales, such as Chicago, Honolulu, the Texas Capitol, and the Washington National Cathedral.
He continues to maintain a passion for the pedagogy of classical singing and performing opera, oratorio, and in recital. His singing career has traversed the stages of opera companies, concert venues, and sacred spaces in New York, New Jersey, Illinois, Florida, Georgia, California, Washington, D.C., Texas, Italy, France, Austria, and the United Kingdom. Renowned for his "sweet-toned lyric tenor," Cody's vocal prowess has garnered accolades and critical acclaim. For instance, the South Florida Classical Review lauds his performances as "touching and vocally thrilling." His various stage credits include the roles of Arturo in Donizetti's masterpiece Lucia di Lamermoor, Ferrando in Mozart's Cosi fan tutte, Captain Macheath in Britten's The Beggar's Opera, Joe Brennan in the Florida premiere performance of Richard Wargo's Ballymore, Tamino in Mozart's Die Zauberflöte, and Belmonte in Mozart's Die Enführung aus dem Serail and the title roles in Massenet's Werther and Gounod's Romeo and Juliet.
In addition to solo performance, Mr. Parrott enjoys time spent singing with some of the United States' most prominent professional choral ensembles. He has performed with the Grammy Award Winning Houston Chamber Choir, conducted by Robert Simpson on their record Ravishingly Russian, described as "top of the line" singing by the American Record Guide, and an "...enjoyable, and enduring listening experience" by Musica Russica. Cody can also be found regularly performing with the Austin-based Ars Longa Ensemble conducted by Dr. Steven Brennfleck, with Chorus Austin, and as a soloist with the Bell Civic Chorus.
Parrott holds the Doctor of Music Arts degree in Choral Conducting with a special emphasis in Vocal Pedagogy from the University of Texas at Austin where he studied with Dr. JD Burnett, a Master of Music in Vocal Performance and Pedagogy from the Frost School of Music at the University of Miami, and a Bachelor of Arts in Music with concentrations in Vocal Music and Music Education from the University of St. Thomas in Houston, TX. He is an active participant, clinician, and adjudicator in the Texas UIL, TMEA, and TAPPS contests, and holds professional memberships with TMEA, TMAA, ACDA, the American Guild of Organists, and the National Association of Teachers of Singing.