Christopher Turbessi is a freelance collaborative pianist, vocal coach, and conductor based in Houston.  For the 2015-2016 season he was 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.  In July 2016 he will coach and conduct for the inaugural American Opera and Musical Theater Summer Institute at Augusta University; he has also served on the staff of the Castleton Festival.  Mr. Turbessi 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 was Assistant Conductor for Virginia Opera’s production of Le nozze di Figaro and Chorus Master for Syracuse Opera’s Madama Butterfly, Les pêcheurs de perles, and Virginia Opera’s Carousel.  Mr. Turbessi holds a master of music degree in collaborative piano from the University of Michigan, where he studied with Martin Katz.