Christian Bouey

Canadian-American violinist Christina Bouey is hailed by the New York Times for playing “beautifully,” while the New York Post wrote, “When violinist Christina Bouey spun out that shimmering tune, I thought I died and went to heaven,” and Opera Newspraised her performances as “exquisite, quivering beauty.” She is praised by Seen and Heard International, “Bouey responded with the kind of beguiling poetry that technical brilliance alone cannot liberate.”

A multifaceted artist, Christina is a violinist, trained coloratura soprano, and composer. She integrates these disciplines to create distinctive and imaginative programs that captivate audiences. Her compositions span solo violin, violin and piano, and string quartet.

Christina is the First Prize winner of the Waldo Mayo Violin Competition, which led to her concerto debut at Carnegie Hall’s Stern Auditorium, where she performed the Tchaikovsky Violin Concerto under Maestro David Gilbert. Her other top awards include the “Rooted to the Island Award” from Music PEI, the Hugo Kortchak Award from the Manhattan School of Music, the Heida Hermann International Competition, the Canadian National Music Festival, the Queens Concerto Competition, and the Balsam Duo Competition.

She has appeared as a soloist with orchestras including Sinfonia Toronto, Albany Symphony, Greenwich Symphony, Cayuga Chamber Orchestra, Tonkünstler Ensemble, Greater Newburgh Symphony Orchestra, Salina Symphony, River Cities Symphony, Symphony of the Mountains, Bergen Symphony, Brooklyn Chamber Orchestra, Prince Edward Island Symphony, and the Cornell Chamber Orchestra, among others. Her solo performances have taken her to major venues worldwide—from Carnegie Hall to Esterházy Palace, and to the Montreal Chamber Festival at Salle Bourgie. She toured as a soloist with Prairie Debut during the 2021–22 season and Debut Atlantic during the 2017–18 season with pianist Pierre-André Doucet.

As a chamber musician, she has collaborated with distinguished artists including Yo-Yo Ma, Jeremy Denk, Simone Dinnerstein, Marc-André Hamelin, Olga Kern, Max Levinson, Cho-Liang Lin, Paul Neubauer, David Chan, and the Emerson Quartet.

In addition to her instrumental work, Christina has performed as a singer internationally, including appearances at Basel Kammermusik and Sala São Paulo. In 2014, as part of Prince Edward Island’s 150th anniversary celebrations, she was commissioned to compose and perform a solo violin work in collaboration with dancers from Ballet Jazz de Montréal. Her recent compositional work includes Soul for string quartet, which premiered in fall 2024 and has since been performed at series including the Schneider Concerts, Sociedad Filarmónica de Burgos, and Chamber Music Troy, and aired by WGBH (Boston) in conjunction with NPR and WMHT in partnership with PBS.

First violinist and founding member of the award-winning Ulysses Quartet, she has appeared with the ensemble in major concert series and festivals around the world. In the United States, select performances include Alice Tully Hall and the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center in New York City, Jordan Hall in Boston, and La Jolla SummerFest and Chamber Music San Francisco in California. Internationally, she has performed at Sociedad Filarmónica de Bilbao, Fundación March in Madrid, the Picasso Museum in Málaga, Premiere Performances Hong Kong, Kanagawa Kenmin Hall in Japan, Sociedad Filarmónica de Lima in Perú, and Sala Nezahualcóyotl at UNAM in México. The Ulysses Quartet has won the Grand Prize at the Vietnam International Chamber Competition, First Prize at the Schoenfeld International String Competition (chamber division), Grand Prize at the Fischoff Competition, First Place in the American Prize, and Second Prize at the Osaka International Chamber Competition. The ensemble also served as Lisa Arnhold Fellows at the Juilliard School as the Graduate Resident String Quartet from 2019–22, and as Quartet-in-Residence at WGBH from 2023–25.

Christina graduated from the Manhattan School of Music in 2013 with a Professional Studies Certificate in Orchestral Performance, studying with Glenn Dicterow and Lisa Kim as a full-scholarship student. She also earned a Professional Studies Certificate in 2012 under Laurie Smukler, and a Master of Music in 2011 studying with Nicholas Mann. She received her Bachelor of Music (magna cum laude) from The Boston Conservatory, where she studied with Irina Muresanu as a full-scholarship student.

Christina serves as Assistant Professor of Violin at Rutgers University’s Mason Gross School of the Arts, having previously held the same position at Ithaca College from 2022 to 2025. She is also Concertmaster of the Grammy Award-winning Albany Symphony and performs on a 1790 Storioni violin on generous loan from a private donor.

Christina is excited to announce her debut album, to be released later this year, which includes the premiere of her original composition Orpheus Romps Through The Underworld. She believes deeply that music has the power to heal emotionally, spiritually, and physically, and is committed to evolving the field through her compositions, arrangements, and background in fiddle and folk traditions. Through her performances, she seeks to connect profoundly with audiences—transcending boundaries, telling stories through sound, and removing the barrier between performer and listener.