Hailed as a “sensitive partner” by the New York Times, Romanian-American pianist Christina Giuca Krause enjoys a diverse musical career as a performer and educator. She has performed on stages including New York’s Weill (Carnegie) and Steinway Recital Halls, and as part of the Dame Myra Hess Memorial Concert Series in Chicago. She served on the music staff of the Houston Ballet, Opera Theatre of St. Louis, Chicago Opera Theater, Chicago Lyric Opera’s Ryan Opera Center, and Northwestern’s Bienen School of Music, among others. As an orchestral pianist, she played with the New World Symphony and Contemporaneous. She performed at festivals including the Music Academy of the West, Aspen Music Festival, and Prussia Cove International Musicians Seminar (England). Christina is passionate about championing the music and stories of today. As the pianist winner of the Marilyn Horne Song Competition in 2017, she premiered “These Strangers” by Jake Heggie. She helped bring new operas to life, most notably Terence Blanchard’s Fire Shut Up in My Bones (Opera Theatre of St. Louis). She is a founding member of piano duo 4x5, with composer/pianist Benjamin Krause. They were guest artists at the Oregon Bach Festival Composers Symposium and performed at the 2019 MTNA National Conference in Spokane, WA. From 2019-2022, Christina was the Artistic Director of LYNX Project, a Chicago-based organization that amplifies diverse voices through new song commissions and educational programming. Under her leadership, LYNX released its first album and grew its songwriting program, Composition of a City, which now reaches more than 700 students. Christina holds degrees from the Oberlin Conservatory and Rice University, and a postgraduate fellowship from the Bard College Conservatory. A dedicated educator, she serves on the music faculty at Hope College and maintains a private studio in West Michigan.