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About ME
Christina has recently relocated to Brisbane, Australia with her young family where she teaches violin and improvisation at the Queensland Conservatorium’s Young Con program and as a private teacher for professional musicians. She is highly regarded as an innovative teacher and collaborative artist.
Christina completed two Masters degrees with Distinction in Violin Performance and Violin Pedagogy, studying with Magdalena Rezler, Julia Schröder (Basel Chamber Orchestra) and Tini Schreiber (Freiburg Baroque Orchestra) at the Freiburg Musikhochschule. She also holds a Bachelor Degree with Honours from the Sydney Conservatorium.
As an orchestral musician, Christina has worked regularly with the Basel Chamber Orchestra, Folkwang Chamber Orchestra and the Stuttgart Philharmonic. She was contracted as Principal First Violin with the Freiburg Philharmonic in 2018. Her orchestral experience extended to use of gut strings in HIP and modern contexts.
As a chamber musician Christina has worked with renowned pianist Tony Chen Lin at the Liszt Academy in Budapest and on tour in New Zealand. She has performed regularly with the Sydney Bach Society’s guitarist Dr. Josinaldo Costa as well as Swiss-Japanese soprano Aya Tsujimoto.
Before moving to Germany Christina had the privilege of learning from some of Australia’s best musicians including Assoc. Prof. Goetz Richter at the Sydney Conservatorium, Alice Waten, Sophie Rowell, Dr. Robin Wilson and Lyn Williams with Gondwana Voices.
Teaching
Teaching has always been a passion of mine and has accompanied my professional life in Australia and Germany. I was given the privilege of acting as teaching assistant for Prof. Julia Schröder in 2018 as well as lecturing in Violin Pedagogy at the Freiburg Musikhochschule for five years.
My goal as a teacher is to guide students on their individual paths by providing sound technical direction and encouraging an exploration of their own creative voices. My postgraduate thesis explored ways to develop psychological resilience in young musicians, a topic that I continue to explore in my teaching. Some of the themes in my teaching:
· Physical flow and awareness while playing: looking at movement as a continuum, developing all the time and changing with context. Music as movement.
· Improvisation as key to unlocking individual creativity. Giving space for playful music-making as an antidote to mistake-avoidance and having some fun (at any level)
· Chamber music as the essence of making music in the way it is a conversation
· Musician’s career guidance including mental resilience and self-compassion for performance anxiety. Reflection on individual goals and role of music in every-day life.
Improv
During my role as pedagogy lecturer in Freiburg, I had the privilege of collaborating with Prof. Elena Cheah, a leading voice in string improvisation in Germany. Giving space to improvisation during lessons and ensemble time is a vital part of developing rounded musicality and ensemble skills.
My improvisation course is offered to advanced string players interested in thinking outside the box. Improvisation is a skill that takes us beyond the music stand and compels us to inter(re)act artistically with fellow players. It creates room for us to listen to our own inner musician. Each student in the course has a vital role to play in the group and everyone has the opportunity to direct and to contribute. Some of the areas covered include
· Tonal and atonal exercises
· Experimentation within set harmonies, chordal progressions
· Exploration of modes and unusual scales
· Soundscapes
· Sound painting
· Rhythmic development
READY TO Connect?
If you like my ideas, I’m always happy to connect with you! Feel free to contact me any time and we can have a chat about the wonderful world of music.
