Charlotte Berlene Zimmer Dixon, 88, passed away Thursday, March 29, 2018, at Coastal Hospice in Salisbury, Md. She was born in Sayre, Pa., daughter of the late Ray and Laura “Chloe” Zimmer. She was a child prodigy, discovered in her late elementary years and sponsored by an anonymous donor throughout her education. This would inspire her throughout her life and ultimately lead her to the loves and commitments of her life, her church and her career.
Dixon received her bachelor’s degree from Syracuse University and master’s degree in sacred music from Boston University. Charlotte Dixon, contralto, acquired her reputation in Washington, D.C., through numerous performances as soloist with the National Symphony Orchestra, Constitution Hall, Lisner Auditorium and The Kennedy Center. She became internationally known as she performed Herman Berlinski’s original music as “The Wife of Job” in the oratorio “Job” (“Hiob”), for which Dixon’s private voice teacher, operatic baritone Todd Duncan notably came out of retirement at the opening of the Washington’s The Kennedy Center to perform this important piece of music with her. She also sang the world premiere of Berlinsky’s “The Glass Bead Game” in Carnegie Hall and “Litanies for the Persecuted,” also by Berlinsky, in the Cathedral of Saint John the Divine, New York City. She has appeared in numerous Baltimore Opera productions including “Falstaff,” The Flying Dutchman,” “Thais,” “Cavalleria Rusticana” and “The Old Maid and the Thief,” performing the role of Miss Todd, which she created for that opera’s Emmy-nominated television debut.
One of her favorite pieces of music was The Brahms “Alto Rhapsody,” which she performed for The Paul Hill Chorale with members of the National Symphony Orchestra in 1972.
Dixon also received many glowing reviews for her singing roles in Washington, Baltiomre and Ocean Pines dinner theaters, such as “South Pacific,” “Sound of Music,” “The King and I,” “Gypsy,” “Fiddler on the Roof,” “Little Mary Sunshine”; and many of the Gilbert and Sullivan operettas, including “The Mikado,” “H.M.S. Pinafore,” “Ruddigore,” “Iolanthe,” “The Yeomen of the Guard” and “The Gondoliers.”
Dixon’s singing and teaching skills have been employed by Montgomery College in Rockville Md., Catholic University in Washington, D.C., and the Montgomery County (Md.) Teachers Association. She had years of initiating community involvement in the musical productions, with her contagious enthusiasm and knowledge of the performing arts, plus her directing and singing skills, which were as much a part of her spiritual life as her professional one. Her desire to enrich the worship and community with art wove seamlessly into her husband’s life as a cleric in the United Methodist Church, Baltimore Conference.
Video Assistance Inc. persuaded her to become the company artistic director, and she collaborated on “Two-Way-Stretch,” a rock musical for the Public Access Channel 22 of Montgomery County, and “Goodbye Sweet Reason,” the story of an Alzheimer caregiver, commissioned by the Alzheimer’s Disease and Related Disorders Association, Syracuse Chapter, New York.
She was the wife of the late Rev. Dr. Philip Jarvis Dixon. She is survived by her two daughters, Kirsta Rae (Dixon) McCullough and Dawn Karina-Dixon Greene and her husband, Ronald B. Greene of Frankford, Del.; grandchildren, Clayton Beall III, Charlene Bean, Sean Christopher McCullough and Kelsey Jarvis McCullough, Brian Greene, Julie Pack and Kim Champagne; and nine great-grandchildren, Michael, Alexis, Carson Philip, Savannah, Ally, Jared, Chloe Rae, P.J. and Jace.
A memorial service was scheduled for April 3, 2018, at the Community Church at Ocean Pines, Md.
Memorial donations may be sent to Washington Performing Arts; 1400 K Street NW, Ste. 510; Washington, DC 20005 or washingtonperformingarts.org/support. The center provides opportunities to those who might not otherwise experience the arts. It was one of the first arts organizations to reflect the Washington area’s diversity on its board and leadership roles, most notably the organization’s first board chairperson, the operative baritone Todd Duncan, who debuted the role of Porgy in Gershwin’s “Porgy and Bess.”