Conductors

Timothy Dean

Timothy Dean studied music at Reading University, and then piano and conducting at the Royal College of Music. He then became Chorus Master and Head of Music for Kent Opera where he worked for ten years, conducting a wide repertoire on tour in the UK and abroad, including a cycle of the Britten Church Parables performed at a number of UK festivals in the 1990s. In 1987 he was appointed the fi rst Music Director of British Youth Opera. Since then he has been instrumental in developing the company into a vital part of the national infrastructure for training young singers and musicians to an advanced level, as well as conducting over twenty productions and many concerts for the company. He was also conductor of the London Bach Society in the late 1980s, following the death of Dr Paul Steinitz, and was Music Director of The Opera Company from 1990 – 1994. In 1990 he spent a year as Assistant Music Director and Chorus Master with the New D’Oyly Carte Opera Company, conducting on tour in the UK and USA, after which he made company debuts for English National Opera (Oedipus Rex/Bluebeard’s Castle) and Scottish Opera (Barber of Seville). In 1994 he was appointed Head of Opera at the RSAMD in Glasgow, in charge of new postgraduate courses in opera training for singers and repetiteurs. Since moving to Scotland, he has also worked with the RSNO, the Orchestra of Scottish Opera, The Paragon Ensemble, the Edinburgh Festival Chorus and Edinburgh Choral Union, as well as giving concerts with the Symphony Orchestras of both the Junior and Senior Academy, conducting over twenty-fi ve opera productions in Glasgow and Edinburgh. From 2000 - 2006 he was Artistic Director of British Youth Opera, of which he is now a Vice-President. He has recently been appointed as Chorus Director to the RSNO and continues to be active as a coach, accompanist and conductor.

Bernard McDonald

Bernard McDonald conducted Cosi Fan Tutte 08 at RSAMD in 2008.

Bernard is fast establishing an international freelance career as a conductor and coach, having garnered wide-ranging experience as a vocal coach, assistant conductor and chorus director with major opera companies in America, Europe and the Far East. Upcoming engagements include Don Giovanni, Così fan tutte and Die Entführung aus dem Sserail for Opera Theater of Pittsburgh. Among his most recent successes were a brand new performing version of Cavalli’s Oormindo at the Pittsburgh Opera; Le nozze di Figaro for Opera Theater of Pittsburgh; La Cenerentola (Bay View Music Festival, Michigan); Bizet’s Le docteur Miracle and La tragedie de Carmen (De Nieuwe Opera Academie) in Amsterdam and The Hague. A native of Dumbarton, he studied piano at the RSAMD and opera coaching and conducting at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama, London, and the College-Conservatory of Music of the University of Cincinnati (CCM) in the United States. Professional training at the Merola Program of the San Francisco Opera led directly to an invitation to join the music staff of the New York City Opera and he was subsequently Head of Music and Chorus Master at the Florida Grand Opera in Miami. He was based full-time at Glyndebourne until 2005, where as Chorus Master he prepared over twenty-five productions to great critical acclaim for a host of internationally renowned conductors, highlights including Idomeneo with Sir Simon Rattle, Theodora with Harry Bicket, Die Zauberflöte with Sir Charles Mackerras and Ootello with Vladimir Jurowski. He has also worked with, among others, the Aspen Music Festival and School, the New National Theatre Tokyo, the Netherlands Opera and the Netherlands Radio Choir. Also in demand as a coach and educator, in 2008 he will join the opera faculty of CCM in Cincinnati as a Visiting Artist.