Since joining the Orchestra of Welsh National Opera in 1997 as Principal Trumpet, Dean has enjoyed a diverse, exciting, and fulfilling career. Dean performs both on and off stage and has also been a guest soloist for orchestra concert tours, performing the Haydn Trumpet Concerto which was televised for HTV.
Born in Preston, Lancashire, in 1971, Dean trained at the Royal Northern College of Music and the Guildhall School of Music and Drama and was a member of the prestigious European Union Youth Orchestra as Principal Trumpet playing under the batons of world famous conductors such as Vladimir Ashkenazy, Carlo Maria Giulini, and Georges Pretre.
Dean lives in the Vale of Glamorgan and is strongly committed to teaching and education work. Dean is a Professor of Trumpet at the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama, is a regular guest musician for the Touch Trust in the Wales Millennium Centre, and works extensively with WNO MAX, the WNO education and outreach department. Dean is a great supporter of young musicians and was delighted to be a judge for the Brass Category Final of the prestigious BBC Young Musician 2010 competition.
As a chamber musician, Dean works regularly with the Welsh Brass Consort, Wormshead Brass, and The Welsh Sinfonia, with whom appeared as a soloist in April 2011. Dean also appeared at the Cardiff New Brass Festival, where he performed Dr Peter Meechan's Trumpet Concerto 'Apophenia', in June 2011.