Jason Ikeem Rodgers
Maestro Rodgers is currently the Founder and Music Director of Orchestra Noir, the Atlanta African-American Orchestra. Jason has appeared with many exceptional orchestras in the U.S. and abroad and in August of 2015 Maestro Rodgers was awarded first prize in the London Classical Soloists Competition. In 2014 Maestro Rodgers was also named winner of the International Conducting Competition held in Atlanta, GA and first prize winner of the conducting competition awarded by the Orchestra da Camera Fiorentina in Florence, Italy. These prestigious accolades have resulted in guest appearances in North America and abroad, making his European debut in 2014 with the Orchestra Di Toscana Classica. Jason received his Professional Studies Diploma from the renowned Cleveland Institute of Music in Orchestral Conducting under Carl Topilow and Louis Lane. He received his Masters of Music in Conducting from the University of North Carolina School of the Arts under Serge Zehnacker and John Mauceri, and holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Piano Performance, under Clifton Matthews, from the same institution. Maestro Rodgers’ conducting debut was at the Stevens Center in Winston-Salem, NC, where he conducted the North Carolina School of the Arts Symphony Orchestra. In addition, John Mauceri, Chancellor of the North Carolina School of the Arts and conductor of the Hollywood Bowl Orchestra, invited Jason to Hollywood to study conducting as his apprentice During it’s 2006-2007 Concert Season.
Since then, he has made appearances with the Orchestra Society of Philadelphia, Philadelphia Youth Orchestra, Ocean City Pops Orchestra, Trowbridge String Ensemble, Salem College Orchestra and Play on Philly (Philadelphia’s El Sistema). Jason also served as Assistant Conductor of the Black Pearl Chamber Orchestra in Philadelphia from 2011 to 2013. Jason was awarded scholarships and merit from the Philadelphia Foundation, Pro Arts Society, the Wallace Loeb Performing Arts Fund, and the Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity. Jason has also been featured in such publications as The Philadelphia Inquirer, Daily News, and Rolling Out Magazine.
