Emerson Buckley; Conductor for Pavarotti

Emerson Buckley, 73, former music director of the Greater Miami Opera and the Philharmonic Orchestra of Florida, and more recently tenor Luciano Pavarotti’s conductor. Buckley promoted American music by programming works such as “The Crucible” by Robert Ward, and works by Paul Creston, Randall Thompson and others. After retiring from the opera and the Philharmonic in the mid-1980s, Buckley launched a second career as Pavarotti’s chief conductor on world tours. He was seen in the 1982 film “Yes, Giorgio,” which featured the internationally famous tenor. Buckley’s last appearance was in April, when he came out of retirement briefly to conduct for Pavarotti at a Philadelphia concert. Buckley also was a guest conductor with major European opera companies, including the Vienna State Opera. He was decorated by the French government for his work conducting operas by composers such as Jules Massenet and Ambroise Thomas. Buckley moved to Florida in the 1930s to conduct the Palm Beach Choir. For many years he continued to pursue a national career based in New York City, where he conducted the New York City Opera. In Miami on Friday of the complications of emphysema.