Biography
As an in-demand flutist, Christina Castellanos has enjoyed a prosperous and diverse musical career. Upon receiving a B.M. (Magna Cum Laude as the Outstanding Senior) and a M.M. (Summa Cum Laude as the Outstanding Graduate) at The University of Nevada, Las Vegas, Christina became 2nd Flutist of The Las Vegas Philharmonic at the age of 22. Christina was later appointed to Principal Flutist and quickly established herself as a top call freelance musician on the Las Vegas Strip, playing hundreds of shows over a 6 year run of Phantom – The Las Vegas Spectacular, as well as backing countless headliners – most notably: Placido Domingo, Pavarotti, Frank Sinatra Jr., Andrea Bocelli, Josh Groban, Harry Connick Jr., Weird Al Yankovic, and Seth MacFarlane. She has had the pleasure of playing under the direction of Itzhak Perlman, Michael Giacchino, and Leonard Slatkin, and shared the stage with artists such as STING, Ben Folds, Kristen Chenoweth, Renee Fleming, The Beach Boys, Arturo Sandoval, Il Divo, Gentri, Kansas, The Who, and Journey (Greatest hits live album and DVD).
Besides her duties as Principal Flutist of the Las Vegas Philharmonic, Christina can be heard as principal flutist of The Nevada Ballet Theater, Salt Lake Symphony, as well as very frequent performances with the Utah Symphony, Utah Opera, Ballet West Orchestra, Boise Philharmonic, Reno Philharmonic, Orchestra at Temple Square for the Tabernacle Choir, the TAD Wind Symphony in Japan, and many off Broadway musical productions.
A passionate chamber musician, Christina maintains a busy performing schedule as flutist of The Orpheus Winds Quintet who most recently performed at The International Double Reed Society Convention. Christina is the solo flutist of Sinfonia Salt Lake and frequently performs as guest principal flute with Reno Chamber Orchestra. As a soloist, not only has Christina performed many of the great “standard” classic pieces with orchestras and bands alike, but also works hard to contribute building great flute repertoire through commissions such as Stacy Garrop’s “Phoenix Rising”, which she recently performed as a soloist at the National Flute Association Convention.
As an educator, Christina is currently the Assistant Professor of Flute at Brigham Young University and has previously served on the faculty of Snow College, Horne School of Music, Utah Valley University, and the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. As a clinician, Christina has been a guest artist at Utah State University, Salem Youth Symphony, Anna Maria College Music Institute, The Utah Flute Association, The Las Vegas Flute Club, The UNLV School of Music, and The Blackbird Music Project in California to name a few. Besides her studio teaching, Christina has published hundreds of instructional videos online for Musician’s Toolkit and Connect Through Music.
Making community service a priority, Christina is a past President of The Utah Flute Association, The Las Vegas Flute Club, and was the chartering President of Sigma Alpha Iota (UNLV chapter and Las Vegas Alumnae Chapter). Christina was a facilitator for “The Jed Moss Collaborative Pianist Scholarship”, endowed in perpetuity at The University of Utah.
When Christina isn’t teaching or performing, she enjoys spending time with her husband, Chris, co-owner and solo horn of Boston Brass, and their two beautiful children, Lily and Orion.