Chris Thibdeau

Recently named Limited-Term Assistant Professor of Music Education (Strings) at Kennesaw State University (KSU), Christopher Thibdeau also the Music Director of the Metropolitan Youth Symphony Orchestras of Atlanta, the Assistant Conductor of the Georgia Tech Symphony Orchestra and the Conductor of the Atlanta Chamber Music Festival. Christopher has previously served as the Interim Music Director of the Georgia Symphony Orchestra and Chorus, the Conductor & Artistic Manager of Orchestras for the Atlanta Music Project, Associate Conductor of the Brighton Symphony Orchestra, and Cover Conductor of the Lexington Philharmonic Orchestra and Firelands Symphony Orchestra. At KSU, Mr. Thibdeau teaches courses in strings pedagogy and education, leads the KSU String Project, and serves as the conductor of the KSU Philharmonic.

As an educator, Christopher has presented workshops and educational concerts in New York, Connecticut, Maine, Vermont, Texas, California, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky and other areas across the US. He was a panel speaker at the 2007 Connecticut State Music Teachers Association State Convention and has been featured as a guest speaker and moderator for the Eastman School of Music “Polyphonic.org” webinar series. Most recently Mr. Thibdeau spent ten days as a guest artist at the Afghanistan National Institute of Music in Kabul where he taught cello and conducting lessons and also had the opportunity to instruct the first ever female Afghan conductor, Negin Khpolwak.

Christopher has participated in many conducting workshops and seminars, including the Conductors Retreat at Medomak under the direction of Kenneth Kiesler, the New England Conservatory Summer Institute where he studied under Frank Battisti and Charles Peltz, and the International Conducting Institute with the Round Rock Symphony under Maestro Peter Bay.

Mr. Thibdeau began studying the cello at the age of 8 and conducting at the age of 13. As an undergraduate student at the Eastman School of Music, Christopher was accepted into the conducting studio of Neil Varon and twice conducted the Eastman School Symphony Orchestra in the prestigious Eastman Theater. He holds a Bachelor of Music degree in Cello Performance from the Eastman School of Music where he studied cello with Alan Harris and orchestral conducting with Neil Varon, and a Master of Music degree in Orchestral Conducting from the Cleveland Institute of Music where he studied with Carl Topilow.