Cody S. Parrott
Biography
Tenor and choral conductor, Cody Parrott, has enjoyed a diverse career as a professional musician and pedagogue for the past two decades. He serves on the voice faculty of the School of Music at Illinois Wesleyan University where he is Director of Choral Activities and Assistant Professor of Voice. With a passion for the skill of multi-genre singing, he is just as at home in the applied studio as on the conducting podium. At IWU he is conductor of the internationally recognized Illinois Wesleyan University Collegiate Choir and the University Tenor & Bass Chorus, teaches courses in choral music education degree plan, and maintains a competitive studio of applied voice and conducting students. Prior to his appointment at Illinois Wesleyan, he held positions on the choral and vocal faculties at Mississippi State University and the University of Texas at Austin after a twelve year career as a high school choral director in Texas public schools.
As a conductor, he is a two-time National Finalist for the American Prize in Choral Performance. Choirs under his direction have been named Finalists at the Celebration of Excellence Competition, awarded the Performance of Distinction recognition at the Madrigal and Chamber Choir Competition in San Antonio, and have delivered invited performances across the country in venues in Chicago, Honolulu, Memphis, St. Louis, Kansas City, and Washington, D.C.. His voice students have attended prestigious vocal programs at the Moores Opera Center, Southern Methodist University, University of North Texas, Cleveland Institute of Music, San Francisco Conservatory, Roosevelt University, Interlochen, and the Oberlin Conservatory and can be found touring both nationally and internationally in professional productions of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Wicked, Camelot, and Rent.
His singing career has traversed the stages of opera companies, concert venues, and sacred spaces throughout the United States, Italy, France, Austria, and the United Kingdom. Renowned for his "sweet-toned lyric tenor," Parrott’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, Dr. 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.
He holds the Doctor of Music Arts in Conducting from the Sarah & Ernest Butler School of Music at the University of Texas at Austin where he studied with Dr. J.D. Burnett, the 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. Cody is an active participant, clinician, and adjudicator throughout the nation, and has been a featured presenter at the conferences of TCDA, Mississippi ACDA, Mid-South Music Institute, and the Southwestern region of the American Choral Directors Association. He maintains memberships in TMEA, CS Music, ACDA, AGO, and the National Association of Teachers of Singing, and looks forward to diving into the flourishing choral and vocal music scene in Illinois!