Christopher Turbessi

Christopher Turbessi is the Opera Coach at the Boyer College of Music and Dance at Temple University; he has also been on the faculty of the Collaborative Piano Institute since its inaugural summer in 2017. Past adventures have included a summer 2022 recital with baritone Reginald Smith Jr. as part of the San Diego Opera Gala; a Lecturer appointment at the Shepherd School of Music at Rice University; stints as Music Staff at the Wolf Trap Opera Company, Utah Opera, Opera Santa Barbara, and the Castleton Festival; Music Director for productions with the Santa Fe Opera Tour and the Opera Institute at Augusta University; Assistant Conductor at Virginia Opera; and Chorus Master at Virginia Opera and Syracuse Opera. Previously an Assistant Conductor and the Musical Supervisor of HGOco at Houston Grand Opera, he oversaw the
musical efforts of that department, including the workshops and world premiere performances of Carlisle Floyd’s Prince of Players, Gregory Spears’ O Columbia, and David Hanlon’s After the Storm.  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.