| Biography | Robert Dean studied piano, horn, composition, and conducting as a Junior Exhibitioner at London's Royal College of Music, and went on to gain his music degree at Durham University, where he was the first student to act as Assistant Chorus Master to the University Chorus. He continued his studies at The Royal Northern College of Music, Manchester, and the National Opera Studio, London as both repetiteur and baritone, and there followed a highly successful nine-year career as a baritone, singing major roles with all the principal opera houses in the UK.
During this time he was assistant and accompanist for Sir Simon Rattle during his tenure as principal conductor of The London Choral Society (1978-1983), and on retiring as a singer in 1987 he decided to focus on conducting, making his debut in the Italian premières of Beethoven's Leonora and Bach's Temistocle at the Batignano Festival that same year. The following year he joined Scottish Opera as Staff Conductor and in 1990 was appointed Head of Music, over the next three years conducting more than 100 opera and concert performances for them. Whilst in Glasgow he was a regular guest conductor for The John Currie Singers and for The Good Shepherd Chorus, conducting, amongst others, Messiah, The Creation, and Bach's B Minor Mass.
Since 1993 Robert Dean has enjoyed a busy freelance conducting schedule, particularly in the opera world, and also with choirs such as the world-renowned Philharmonia Chorus. Iin April 1998 his contribution to the Philharmonia Chorus was recognised with his appointment as their Artistic Director. He has since conducted them in concerts including Rossini's Stabat Mater and Puccini's Messa di Gloria with the Philharmonia Orchestra, Messiah with the London Mozart Players, Handel's Dixit Dominus with London Musici, Rossini's Petite Messe Solennelle, Rachmaninov's Vespers, and, most recently The Dream of Gerontius. The choir also performs regularly in a cappella concerts, conducted by Dean.
Additionally, Robert Dean has prepared The Philharmonia Chorus for a variety of choral works including Beethoven's Symphony No.9 for Christoph von Dohnanyi, Sir Simon Rattle, and Sir Charles Mackerras, and Missa Solemnis for Sir Roger Norrington. He prepared Verdi's Requiem for Valery Gergiev, Brahms' Requiem for Daniele Gatti, Cherubini's Mass in D for Riccardo Muti, and Mahler's Symphony No.2 for Vladimir Ashkenazy. As part of his Berlioz Odysssey year in 2000, Sir Colin Davis conducted a memorable televised Proms performance of the Grande Messe des Morts for which Dean prepared the Philharmonia Chorus and an additional 450 singers from the Guildhall School of Music and the Paris Conservatoire. His skill in dealing with large choral forces was also evident in his preparation of the joint choruses of the Philharmonia, Royal Choral Society, and the London Philharmonic Choir for a performance of Mahler's Symphony No.8 conducted by the late Giuseppe Sinopoli.
He has also prepared the chorus for concert performances of opera, including Donizetti's Linda di Chamonix for Mark Elder and the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment, Puccini's Turandot in the new completion by Berio for Leonard Slatkin and the BBC Symphony orchestra, Wagner's Lohengrin for Donald Runnicles, and Weber's Der Freischutz for Sir Charles Mackerras at the 2004 Edinburgh Festival.
He is a Professor at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama in London and a vocal coach at the National Opera Studio. He gives Vocal Masterclasses around the UK, USA, and Canada, and also in Denmark, where he has held the appointment of Visiting Guest Professor of Singing at the Royal Danish Academy in Copenhagen. He is a guest conductor, and a workshop clinician uses his own background as an opera singer to help with the technical aspects of choral singing and energise choirs into more vivacious performance. |