Dean Buck is a Cleveland-based conductor, now serving his fourth season as Assistant Conductor and Chorus Master with Cleveland Opera Theater. His conducting has been described as "fearless and firm," (Cleveland Classical,) and "maintaining a constant, flexible rapport with singers." (New York Observer.) With Cleveland Opera Theater, he has worked as assistant conductor/chorus master on their productions of “La Boheme,” “La Traviata, “Madama Butterfly,” “Il Barbiere di Siviglia,” and “The Threepenny Opera.” He has additionally served as Music Director for Cleveland Opera Theater's {NOW} Fest for the past two seasons, supervising premiers, workshops and performances of works by such composers as Evan Mack, Dawn Sonntag and Griffin Candey. Previously, Dean served as principal conductor of the New York City-based company LoftOpera. With LoftOpera, he conducted eight productions including their critically-acclaimed stagings of Puccini's "La Boheme", Britten's "The Rape of Lucretia", and Mozart's "Cosi fan Tutte". Dean has recently served as guest conductor for Heights Chamber Orchestra and Suburban Symphony Orchestra, and assistant conductor for the Mediterannean Opera Studio and Festival in Caltagirone, Sicily. He holds a masters degree in orchestral conducting from the Cleveland Institute of Music.