Christina Giuca Krause
Piano and Collaborative Piano
Sponsored by Beth and John Nelson-Chase
Biography
Pianist Christina Giuca Krause enjoys a diverse career as a performer, collaborator, and educator. She has performed on stages including Carnegie’s Weill Recital Hall and Preston Bradley Hall, served on the music staff of the Houston Ballet, Chicago Opera Theater, and Chicago Lyric Opera's Ryan Opera Center, and worked as a vocal coach and collaborative pianist at Northwestern University and North Park University. She holds degrees from the Oberlin Conservatory and Rice University.
Christina is passionate about championing the music and stories of today. As the pianist winner of the Marilyn Horne Song Competition, she premiered “These Strangers” by Jake Heggie. She has helped bring new operas to life, including Terence Blanchard’s Fire Shut Up in My Bones (Opera Theatre of St. Louis). She is also a founding member of piano duo 4x5, with composer/pianist Benjamin Krause. They were recent guest artists at the Oregon Bach Festival Composers Symposium.
Christina is dedicated to building community through music and making music education accessible for all. From 2019-2022, she served as the Artistic Director of LYNX Project, an organization that amplifies diverse voices through new song commissions and educational programming. She received a 2021 Alumni Enterprise Award from the Music Academy of the West to develop a digital curriculum for LYNX’s songwriting program, Composition of a City. That program now reaches over 700 students in the Chicago-area and beyond. Most recently, she worked with Eric Reyes and Sarah VandenBrink to create and lead ¡Canto! A Latinx Vocal Intensive for high school students in Holland, MI.
Christina is currently the Coordinator of Collaborative Piano at Hope College and maintains a private piano studio in West Michigan. For more information, visit christinagiuca.com.