Steven Byess
Steven Byess is an American orchestral conductor.

Early career 
Byess attended Georgia State University, receiving a Bachelor of Music Degree in classical performance and jazz studies, and Cleveland Institute of Music, from which he received Master of Music degree. While there he studied with Louis Lane and 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 at the Shaw Institute in Souilliac, France.

Recent work
Byess conducts symphony orchestras and opera companies, also working in the genres of Broadway, jazz and television. He has served as an Associate Music Director of the Ohio Light Opera for over 20 years, where he has conducted over 500 performances and 65 diverse operas, operettas, and musical theater works.

Byess is the Music Director of the Tupelo Symphony Orchestra  and serves as Cover Conductor for the Detroit Symphony Orchestra, Music Director for the Arkansas Philharmonic, Opera Conductor for the Cleveland Institute of Music and California State University, Los Angeles.

With the Ohio Light Opera, Byess is featured on 17 CD recordings by Newport Classic, Albany Records, and Operetta Archives. In the summer of 2007, Byess conducted Bernstein's Candide at the Pine Mountain Music Festival and Puccini's La bohème in Tel Aviv 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.

Current Calendar

He is in demand for a full variety of concert conducting activities. Most recently he was selected by the Portland Columbia Symphony Orchestra as Music Director and Conductor.

Other interests
Byess wrote and co-directed the PBS children's presentation Count On It!.