Dean Southern

Dean Southern, DMA, is Vice President of Academic Affairs and Student Affairs & Dean of the Institute at the Cleveland Institute of Music. He is also a member of the voice faculty and has a diverse musical background as a singer, pianist, and stage director.

Southern was a Master Teacher at the 2020 NATS Intern Program, where he mentored early career professional voice teachers. He serves as executive director of the Art Song Festival at CIM, which was founded in 1985 to promote art song and cultivate its performance by hosting international artists in recitals and master classes. He spent eleven years on the faculty of the American Institute of Musical Studies (AIMS) in Graz, Austria, and he has since taught at summer programs in Italy, China, California and Massachusetts. Southern was a jury member of the Bologna International Vocal Competition in Italy and he has served as an adjudicator for competitions in Austria, China, and across the US.