Flutist Christina Jennings relishes an artistic life comprised of sharing music with audiences and students. Her search for beauty and meaning leads her to explore diverse music and approaches with a wide range of artistic partners and young musicians. The Houston Press declared, “Jennings has got what it takes: a distinctive voice, charisma and a pyrotechnic style that works magic on the ears.” Highlights from upcoming and recent seasons include the premiere of "Glimmerglass," a new concerto for flute and wind ensemble by Kevin Day; collaborations with the pianist Simone Dinnerstein performing music of J.S. Bach; and creative teaching with Tonebase, an online music teaching platform.
Jennings is an artist teacher who strives to bring creativity, play and stellar music making into each part of her musical life.
A passionate teacher, Jennings is professor of flute at the University of Colorado Boulder, where her flute studio is one of the most prominent and respected flute studios in the United States. Dedicated to training the whole flutist, her students have gone on to meaningful work in orchestras, schools, nonprofit arts organizations, and careers in medicine, law and climate reform. She joyfully teaches each summer at Greenwood Music Camp, a five-week chamber music festival for high school students in Western Massachusetts. Jennings credits her success and devotion to teaching to her own teachers—Jeanne Baxtresser, Carol Wincenc, George Pope and Leone Buyse.
As a performing flutist, Jennings enjoys varied musical settings. The winner of several major competitions - including the Concert Artists Guild and National Flute Association competitions—she has appeared as concerto soloists with over 50 orchestras and premiered new concertos composed for her by Carter Pann, Marcus Maroney, Laura Elise Schwendinger and others. The Washington Post described her performance of Jonathan Leshnoff's concerto with the Fairfax Symphony as a “spirited, quicksilver performance.” For decades, she also served as the principal flute with the Arizona Music Fest and ROCO (Houston). Notable chamber music partners have included the Takács Quartet, Sō Percussion and Brasil Guitar Duo as well as frequent performances with Simone Dinnerstein.
Jennings' recent Naxos disc of flute music by American composer George Rochberg features her transcriptions of his "Caprice Variations" published by Galaxy Music. With Italian guitarist Nicolò Spera, she recently released an Albany disc of new music by Christopher Theofanidis.
Jennings is a spirited leader and enjoys bringing people together. With violist Matthew Dane, she founded Brightmusic Chamber Series, an organization still making meaningful chamber music in Oklahoma City. She is also the founder of the Panoramic Flutist Seminar, Rise Up Flutist courses and the Once a Flutist Festival. An advocate of equity and diversity, Jennings champions the careers and compositions of women and underrepresented groups while encouraging her students to do the same.
Jennings is devoted to her community and grateful for belonging in yoga, dance, book and spiritual circles. She lives in Boulder with her husband, violist Matthew Dane, and their twin teenagers.
