Violetta Zabbi
Vocal coach/Concert pianist/Russian Ukrainian diction and repertoire coach/Conductor
A native of Odessa, Ukraine, Violetta Zabbi is an accomplished pianist, conductor and coach. She received her BM and MM in "Piano Performance" and PhD in “ Musicology” from Odessa State Academy of Music.
Dr. Zabbi has been involved in over 100 different opera projects while living in New York for the past 25 years. She is currently on the faculties of Adelphi University and CUNY Brooklyn College. Alongside coaching and teaching at Brooklyn College, Dr. Zabbi organizes contemporary American art song recitals within the voice department. She has also spent 10 years accompanying the graduate art song seminars taught by tenor and American art song specialist Paul Sperry. She is currently music director and conductor with Vocal Productions NYC, Slope Opera (Brooklyn, NY), New York Opera Theater, and Delaware Valley Opera. She appears as a pianist and coach with Long Island Lyric Opera, Regina Opera, Hofstra University, New Camerata Opera, Opera Manhattan Repertoire and the American Opera Project. Dr. Zabbi frequently appears in recitals both as a soloist and in collaboration where her playing has been described as: “the image of joy and passion.”
Violetta Zabbi served as vocal coach and conductor at Delaware Valley Opera since 2011 until 2017 and coming back this season as Music Director and Conductor.
For the past 10 seasons she has performed with DCINY International at Carnegie Hall and Avery Fisher Hall. Additionally, Dr. Zabbi serves as festival faculty at the following intensive programs: UArtist Music (Kiev, Ukraine), International Summer Opera Festival of Morelia (Morelia, Mexico), Oyster Bay Music Festival (NY), AMAO American Masters Academy( Moscow, Russia and New York) and Queens College Summer Vocal Institute (NYC).
In addition to her career as vocal coach, Dr. Zabbi served as a Piano Professor and later Vice President of Long Island Conservatory from 1998 to 2011 where she had great success teaching Piano Performance in all levels. Her students were passing all NYSSMA levels, participating and winning local and international.