Conductor

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Management:
Pinnacle Arts Management, Inc.
Uzan Division
889 Ninth Avenue, 2nd Floor
New York, New York 10019
212-397-7926
www.pinnaclearts.com

Dean Williamson, one of the country’s foremost emerging opera conductors, was recently appointed the Artistic Director of Opera Cleveland. He was until 2002 music director of the Seattle Opera Young Artists Program.  He  He has led all of the program’s productions, including Cosi fan tutte, Le nozze di Figaro, Don Giovanni, La Cenerentola, and La bohème.
In 2001, he was asked to conduct a new production of Lucia at the Minnesota Opera.  His success there led to numerous other invitations and in 2002 he made his debut at the Wolf Trap Opera with Don Pasquale.
The 2003 season included La bohéme at the Seattle Opera Young Artists Program and Washington East Opera, Don Giovanni at the Opera Colorado and Spokane Opera companies, Carmen at Rimrock Opera, and La finta giardiniera at Ohio University.  That summer, he conducted Eugene Onegin at the Opera Festival of New Jersey, and returned to Wolf Trap to lead the Filene Center production of Il barbiere di Siviglia.  In the fall of 2003, he was a visiting guest professor at the University of Southern California’s Thornton School of Music, teaching in the opera program and conducting Hansel and Gretel.  
Engagements in 2004 included Carmen at the Opera Theatre of St. Louis, Sondheim’s Passion at Minnesota Opera, Don Pasquale at the San Francisco Opera’s Merola program, Cosi fan tutte at the Seattle Opera Young Artists Program and L’Italiana in Algeri at Boston Lyric Opera.
In 2005 he led Le nozze di Figaro at the Seattle Opera Young Artists Program and made his main stage Seattle Opera debut with a new production of Les Contes d’Hoffmann, receiving much praise in the international press.  In the summer he conducted Madama Butterfly at the Chautauqua Opera and La Cenerentola at Wolf Trap in the Filene Center.  This fall he makes his Canadian debut with La bohéme at the Manitoba Opera.
In 2006 he returns to Spokane Opera for the New Year’s Eve gala, then conducts Il barbiere di Siviglia at the Washington East Opera.  In February, he makes his Kentucky Opera debut with another production of Il barbiere di Siviglia, then comes back to the Seattle Opera YAP to lead The Turn of the Screw.  In the spring and summer he returns to the Opera Theatre of St. Louis for Il barbiere di Siviglia, opening the season there.  In the fall he conducts Die Zauberflöte at Opera Colorado.  
Acclaimed by London’s Opera as a virtuoso at the keyboard, he was for twelve years principal coach and pianist for the Seattle Opera.  Mr. Williamson has also performed throughout the United States, Canada, and Europe as accompanist with some of the world’s leading singers. 
Deeply committed to teaching, he has given masterclasses at universities around the country, and has served on the judging panels of many competitions and scholarship auditions, including the Metropolitan National Council. 

Recent and Upcoming Engagements

L’Italiana in Algeri Boston Lyric Opera Nov 3-16, 2004
New Year’s Eve Gala Spokane Opera Dec 31, 2004
Le nozze di Figaro Seattle Opera Young Artists Program Apr 1-10, 2005
Les Contes d’Hoffmann Seattle Opera May 7-22, 2005
Madama Butterfly Chautauqua Opera July 8, 11, 2005
La Cenerentola  Wolf Trap Opera Aug 20, 2005
Presentation of Alumni Fellow Award University of Louisville Sept 29, 2005
La boheme Manitoba Opera Oct 29, Nov 1,4, 2005
New Year’s Eve Gala Spokane Opera Dec 31, 2005
Il barbiere di Siviglia Washington East Opera Jan 18, 20, 21, 2006
The Turn of the Screw Seattle Opera Young Artists Program April, 2006
Il barbiere di Siviglia Opera Theatre of St. Louis May-June, 2006
Die Zauberflöte  Opera Colorado Oct-Nov, 2006
New Year's Eve Gala Spokane Opera Dec 31, 2006
Romeo et Juliette Nashville Opera Jan/Feb 2007
Le nozze di Figaro Skagit Opera Feb/Mar 2007
Falstaff Seattle Opera Mar/Apr 2007
Hansel and Gretel Spokane Opera Apr/May 2007
Samson et Dalila Nashville Opera Sept/Oct 2007
Fall production New England Conservatory Of Music, Boston Nov/Dec 2007
I pagliacci  Seattle Opera Dec/Jan 2007-08
Merola mid-summer concerts in the Yerba Buena Gardens and Herbst Theater San Francisco Opera July, 2008
Concert Performance Governor’s Chamber Music Festival August, 2008
Le nozze di Figaro Opera Cleveland Sept/Oct, 2008
Hansel and Gretel Opera Cleveland Oct/Nov, 2008
New Year’s Eve gala Spokane Opera Divas and Diamonds December, 2008
The Magic Flute Spokane Opera January, 2009
Il barbiere di Siviglia  Opera Cleveland March, 2009
Le nozze di Figaro Seattle Opera Apr/May, 2009