Steven Byess
Encyclopedia
Early career
Byess attended Georgia State UniversityGeorgia State University
Georgia State University is a research university in downtown Atlanta, Georgia, USA. Founded in 1913, it serves about 30,000 students and is one of the University System of Georgia's four research universities...
, receiving a Bachelor of Music Degree in classical performance and jazz studies, and Cleveland Institute of Music
Cleveland Institute of Music
The Cleveland Institute of Music is an independent music conservatory located in the University Circle district of Cleveland, Ohio, United States and is overseen by president Joel Smirnoff and Adrian Daly, dean....
, from which he received Master of Music degree. While there he studied with Louis Lane,Carl Topilow in the area of conducting. He also attended the Pierre Monteux Memorial School for Conductors. Byess was an assistant to conductor Robert Shaw
Robert Shaw (conductor)
Robert Shaw was an American conductor most famous for his work with his namesake Chorale, with the Cleveland Orchestra and Chorus, and the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra and Chorus. Shaw received 14 Grammy awards, four ASCAP awards for service to contemporary music, the first Guggenheim Fellowship...
at the Shaw Institute in Souilliac, France.
Recent work
Byess conducts symphony orchestras and opera companies, also working in the genres of BroadwayBroadway theatre
Broadway theatre, commonly called simply Broadway, refers to theatrical performances presented in one of the 40 professional theatres with 500 or more seats located in the Theatre District centered along Broadway, and in Lincoln Center, in Manhattan in New York City...
, jazz
Jazz
Jazz is a musical style that originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States. It was born out of a mix of African and European music traditions. From its early development until the present, jazz has incorporated music from 19th and 20th...
and television
Television
Television is a telecommunication medium for transmitting and receiving moving images that can be monochrome or colored, with accompanying sound...
. He recently finished an 11 year tenure as the Associate Music Director of the Ohio Light Opera
Ohio Light Opera
The Ohio Light Opera is a professional opera company based in Wooster, Ohio that performs the light opera repertory, including Gilbert and Sullivan, American, British and continental operettas, and other musical theatre works, especially of the late 19th and early 20th centuries...
where he conducted over 400 performances of 50 diverse operas, operettas, and musical theater works.
Byess is the Music Director of the Tupelo Symphony Orchestra
Tupelo Symphony Orchestra
The Tupelo Symphony Orchestra is the resident orchestral performing organization in Tupelo, MS-Founding Events:The need for a symphony orchestra in Tupelo, MS led to fund-raising efforts, including organization of the community resources initially required for the development of the orchestra,...
and serves as Cover Conductor for the Detroit Symphony Orchestra
Detroit Symphony Orchestra
The Detroit Symphony Orchestra is an American orchestra based in Detroit, Michigan. Its main performance center is Orchestra Hall at the Max M. Fisher Music Center in Detroit's Midtown neighborhood...
, Opera Conductor for the Cleveland Institute of Music
Cleveland Institute of Music
The Cleveland Institute of Music is an independent music conservatory located in the University Circle district of Cleveland, Ohio, United States and is overseen by president Joel Smirnoff and Adrian Daly, dean....
and California State University, Los Angeles
California State University, Los Angeles
California State University, Los Angeles is a public comprehensive university, part of the California State University system...
.
With the Ohio Light Opera, Byess is featured on 11 CD recordings by Newport Classic, Albany Records
Albany Records
Albany Records is an American classical music record label focusing particularly on contemporary classical music. It was established by Peter Kermani in 1987, and is based in Albany, New York.-External links:**...
, and Operetta Archives. In the summer of 2007, Byess conducted Bernstein's Candide
Candide
Candide, ou l'Optimisme is a French satire first published in 1759 by Voltaire, a philosopher of the Age of Enlightenment. The novella has been widely translated, with English versions titled Candide: or, All for the Best ; Candide: or, The Optimist ; and Candide: or, Optimism...
at the Pine Mountain Music Festival
Pine Mountain Music Festival
The Pine Mountain Music Festival is a music festival held in the western Upper Peninsula of Michigan each summer. The festival's schedule varies each year, typically including at least one major opera, a night of scenes from famous operas, performances by several chamber music groups, a symphony,...
and Puccini's La bohème
La bohème
La bohème is an opera in four acts,Puccini called the divisions quadro, a tableau or "image", rather than atto . by Giacomo Puccini to an Italian libretto by Luigi Illica and Giuseppe Giacosa, based on Scènes de la vie de bohème by Henri Murger...
in Tel Aviv
Tel Aviv
Tel Aviv , officially Tel Aviv-Yafo , is the second most populous city in Israel, with a population of 404,400 on a land area of . The city is located on the Israeli Mediterranean coastline in west-central Israel. It is the largest and most populous city in the metropolitan area of Gush Dan, with...
at the International Vocal Arts Institute. In November and December 2007, Byess conducted his third U.S. tour with the Sinfonia Chamber Orchestra from Krakow, Poland.
Byess was chosen by Walt Disney World Entertainment to conduct the 2000 NFL E*TRADE Super Bowl Halftime show.