Born in São Paulo, Roberto Tibiriçá was taught by Guiomar Novaes, Magda Tagliaferro, Dinorah de Carvalho, Nelson Freire and Gilberto Tinetti. He also worked with Eleazar de Carvalho over a period of 18 years, after winning two consecutive editions of the OSESP Young Conductors Competition.
Tibiriçá was appointed assistant conductor of Lisbon’s Teatro Nacional de São Carlos, going on to conduct the Brazilian Symphony Orchestra between 1994 and 1998. From 2000 to 2004, he was artistic director and principal conductor of the Petrobras Symphony Orchestra (OPPM) and between 2005 and 2011 served as artistic director of the Baccarelli Institute’s Heliópolis Symphony in São Paulo. In 2010, he became principal conductor of the Minas Gerais Symphony Orchestra, a role he retained until 2013. He has also been principal conductor and artistic director of the Campinas Symphony Orchestra, São Bernardo do Campo Philharmonic Orchestra and Sodre Symphony Orchestra (Montevideo).
Tibiriçá is a member of the Academia Brasileira de Música and an honorary member of Brazil’s Academia Nacional de Música. In August 2020, he conducted the São Paulo Symphony Orchestra in the world premiere performance of João Guilherme Ripper’s monodrama Cartas Portuguesas.