Christopher Turbessi is a freelance collaborative pianist, vocal coach, and conductor based in Houston. In the 2016-2017 season he conducts Camelot for the Opera Institute at Augusta University, coaches L’Opera Seria at the Wolf Trap Opera Company, Carmen at Opera Santa Barbara, Lucia di Lammermoor at Utah Opera, and serves as Music Director and Conductor for Augusta University’s summer opera intensive. In-between gigs he maintains a private coaching studio and moonlights as a freelance assistant editor for Boosey & Hawkes. He was previously an Assistant Conductor and the Musical Supervisor of HGOco at Houston Grand Opera, where he shepherded the workshops and world premiere performances of Carlisle Floyd’s Prince of Players, Gregory Spears’ O Columbia, and David Hanlon’s After the Storm, among other new works. He also cultivated and performed on the first Veterans’ Songbook recital, a project to turn the words of Houston-area veterans into song cycles by local composers. Mr. Turbessi has served on the staff of the Castleton Festival and has been an Assistant Conductor at Virginia Opera and Chorus Master for productions at Virginia Opera and Syracuse Opera. He is a graduate of the Houston Grand Opera Studio, as well as young artist programs at Virginia Opera, the Aspen Opera Theater Center, and Syracuse Opera. He holds a master of music degree in collaborative piano from the University of Michigan, where he studied with Martin Katz.