Christopher Turbessi

Visiting Assistant Professor of Collaborative Piano

---

 

Biography

Christopher Turbessi is a collaborative pianist and administrator most recently based in Philadelphia. He is the only person to have been guest faculty at the Collaborative Piano Institute every summer since its inception in 2017; he has also enjoyed a long association with the Wolf Trap Opera Company, where he will return in the summer of 2024 as Principal Coach for their production of La bohème. Planned recital appearances for 2024 include concerts with baritone Reginald Smith, Jr. at Temple University and soprano Amy Petrongelli at CPI. 

In his previous appointment at the Boyer College of Music and Dance at Temple University, Professor Turbessi (or “professi” as he is known) created the position of Opera Coach, serving as the only musical faculty in the opera area and the university’s first full-time vocal coach. He came to Temple from the Shepherd School of Music at Rice University, where he was a Lecturer in the opera department.

Past adventures have included a summer 2022 recital with baritone Reginald Smith Jr. as part of the San Diego Opera Gala; stints as Music Staff at 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.