Biography

Dr. Christopher John Nakielski, D.M.A., is the Director of Choral Activities at Lipscomb University in Nashville, Tennessee. An accomplished conductor, educator, and tenor soloist, he has built a distinguished career bridging classical masterworks and contemporary commercial music. Dr. Nakielski previously served as Associate Music Professor and department co-chair at Cornell College—where he dramatically increased ensemble enrollment and pioneered Iowa’s first Contemporary Commercial Music BA—as well as on the faculty of Washington State University and as Director of Choral Activities at Loyola Academy.

Equally at home on the podium and in the recording studio, he is a highly sought-after national clinician, adjudicator, and regional stage manager for the Midwest American Choral Directors Association (ACDA). As a performer, he regularly appears across the country as a classical tenor soloist and is a long-standing studio session musician and keyboard collaborator with songwriter Ben Ripani, recently featured on the 2026 EP Pangea. Dr. Nakielski holds degrees from the University of Iowa (D.M.A.), VanderCook College of Music (M.M.E.), and Ripon College (B.A.).

Academic Degree

D.M.A. in Choral Conducting and Pedagogy, University of Iowa