BIOGRAPHY
Christina Knudson is an American violinist from Los Angeles, California, based in Kawasaki, Japan. She currently performs and tours throughout Japan with Tokyo-based IlluminArt Philharmonic Orchestra, and maintains her First Violin position with the California Symphony, where she often appears as Assistant Concertmaster. Additionally, Ms. Knudson has performed widely across the San Francisco Bay Area with Berkeley Symphony, Marin Symphony, Merced Symphony, Modesto Symphony, Monterey Symphony, Sacramento Symphony and Symphony Silicon Valley among others. She has participated in the National Repertory Orchestra in Colorado, the National Orchestral Institute in Maryland, and the Hot Springs Festival in Arkansas. During her stay in Hot Springs, Ms. Knudson appeared as a soloist with the Hot Springs Festival Orchestra for a masterclass with Janet Sung. Aside from her classical work, she has recorded with Indie Rock Bands such as The Family Crest and Elevate Ensemble and has performed with artists Zoe Keating, Third Eye Blind, Yuki Koyanagi and Fuji Fumiya.
Ms. Knudson is a passionate educator and has taught violin for over 15 years. During the time she lived in the San Francisco Bay Area, she led the Napa Valley Youth Symphony’s Sinfonia String Ensemble, and developed a new program aimed at bridging younger students into the full orchestra program. Ms. Knudson is a registered Suzuki Violin Teacher and is on faculty at Rubgy School Japan as a violin teacher and also maintains a private violin studio from her home in Japan.
Ms. Knudson received her Bachelor of Music in Violin Performance from California State University, Long Beach as a full scholarship student, where she graduated magna cum laude. She completed her Master of Music from the San Francisco Conservatory of Music, and completed the Professional Studies Diploma program the following year as a scholarship student of Bettina Mussumeli. She previously studied with Phillip Levy, Bing Wang, Mateja Marinkovic, Chen Zhao, Kota Nagahara and Catherine Van Hoesen.
In 2022, Ms. Knudson began a recital series in Yokohama, with the goal of programming more female composers. She is currently researching and developing her next recital program, which intends to examine intersectionality between Japanese and American contributions to Western classical music. In her spare time, Ms. Knudson enjoys hiking and playing with her toddler.
Christina Knudson began her annual recital series at Okurayama Memorial Hall in Yokohama in 2022 with the goal of programming more female composers.
She can be heard throughout the year performing and touring Japan with Tokyo-based IlluminArt Philharmonic Orchestra and in America with the California Symphony.