Biography
Chris Albanese is Pam and Jack Burks Associate Professor of Choral Conducting at the Indiana University Jacobs School of Music, where he conducts the Grammy-nominated Singing Hoosiers and teaches courses in choral conducting.
Under his direction, the Singing Hoosiers were invited to perform at the 2021 National Convention of the American Choral Directors Association (ACDA). He has led and prepared the ensemble for collaborations with notable guests including Sylvia McNair and Sandi Patty.
Prior to IU, Albanese was a member of the Grammy Award-winning ensemble Chanticleer, with which he performed across the United States and abroad, including at Los Angeles’ Disney Concert Hall, Vienna’s Musikverein, Prague’s Rudolfinum, Paris’s Oratorie du Louvre, and St. Petersburg’s Mariinsky Theater. His performances have been broadcast by public radio affiliates in Minneapolis, New York, Seattle, Denver, and Cincinnati, and he appeared with Chanticleer as a featured guest on the Hallmark Network’s Home and Family.
Albanese also serves as music director of the Akron Symphony Chorus. He has prepared the chorus to critical acclaim for numerous collaborations with the symphony, most recently for performances of Haydn’s The Creation, Brahms’ Ein Deutsches Requiem, Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9, and the world premiere of Julia Perry’s Frammenti dale lettere di Santa Caterina.
An active performer, Albanese’s solo credits include performances with the Santa Fe Desert Chorale, Akron Symphony Orchestra, Columbus Indiana Philharmonic, Dayton Opera, Cincinnati Bach Festival, Cincinnati Chamber Orchestra, Bloomington Early Music Festival, Ars Musica Chicago, and Castleton Festival under the baton of Lorin Maazel.
Albanese is in demand as a clinician and guest conductor, having presented workshops and master classes across the United States and abroad, including at a national ACDA conference. He is frequently engaged to speak on the topic of vocal production and resonance building in the choral setting. In recognition of his excellence in teaching, he was awarded IU’s Trustees Teaching Award during the 2021-22 academic year.
He earned a B.M. in Music Education and Vocal Performance from the University of Dayton, an M.M. in Vocal Performance from Northwestern University, and a D.M.A. in Choral Conducting from the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music. His doctoral research centered on the double choir masses of Ibero-American composer Juan Gutierrez de Padilla.