Solo and collaborative pianist Christopher Koelzer hails from the San Francisco Bay Area, and performs, records, and coaches regularly in the New York City and Washington, D.C. metropolitan areas. Christopher received his Bachelor’s Degree in Piano Performance, studying with Dr. Irene Peery-Fox at Brigham Young University, and holds Doctor of Musical Arts and Master of Music Degrees in Collaborative Piano from University of Maryland, College Park, where he studied with Professor Rita Sloan.

Christopher attended Aspen Music Festival and School as Vocal Fellow from 2011-2014. He was an advisor, musical coach and performer in the Rural Artists Project, Inc. in western Alaska in 2014, a program designed to promote music appreciation and cultural development in rural areas. Christopher was a Coaching Fellow at Wolf Trap Opera in 2017, as coach and accompanist for Rigoletto, as well as pianist for a new production of Kurt Weill’s The Seven Deadly Sins as part of Halcyon’s By The People, an international arts and dialogue festival in Washington, D.C., a performance that collaborated with Hong Kong Ballet and Terra Firma Dance Company. Christopher joined the Merola Opera Program for its 2019 season as Apprentice Coach, premiering Jake Heggie’s If I Were You.

Christopher has worked as assistant conductor and vocal coach with many opera companies, including Washington National Opera (Washington, D.C.), Wolf Trap Opera (Vienna, VA), Northern Lights Music Festival (Minnesota), Maryland Lyric Opera (Bethesda, MD), and has coached and performed with the Maryland Opera Studio from 2013-2020.  Christopher was selected for Washington National Opera’s Cafritz Young Artist Program as pianist and coach from 2017-2019. He has performed and recorded several new musicals and world premieres of new operas, including in New York City (Hometown to the World, Kaminsky/Reed), D.C. (Proving Up, Mazzoli/Vavrek). He is nominated for a 2019 Grammy® Award for his work performing and recording with the National Orchestral Institute + Festival on the album RUGGLES, STUCKY & HARBISON: ORCHESTRAL WORKS with conductor David Alan Miller. Christopher has performed at Carnegie Hall as both pianist (Blake Allen’s sextet with voice, Insomnia, 2022) and organist (Dan Forrest’s Requiem for the Living, 2022/23, Fauré's Réquiem, 2023). Christopher is teacher of Collaborative Piano and Operetta Workshop, as well as conductor, vocal coach and accompanist at Fiorello H. LaGuardia High School of Music & Arts and Performing Arts in Manhattan, and conducted LaGuardia’s 2023 production of THE ADDAMS FAMILY.