Christina Connell

A childhood listening to bagpipes, Scottish legend Jean Redpath, and the Boston Symphony have strongly influenced this Folky-Celtic-Classical artist. The artist, a prize-winning hammered dulcimer player as well as a classically trained symphonic musician, combines the elegance of classical phrasing with the robustness of folk melodies.  Listeners have described her music both as calming as well as energizing--sort of like yoga, only, for the ears.  

The CD, Dennis' Waltz, is for solo hammered dulcimer, music you might hear played by harp at a wedding or in a soundtrack for a movie about the Ozarks or Europe in the 1800's.  There is a grander sound on the CD, Thistle Dew, which sounds a bit more like background music to a pastoral scene in Braveheart or a cheerful tune in the Lord of the Rings.  It is a group of swashbuckling, joyful, nostalgic and melodic folk gems, superbly orchestrated. It is music for the heart, magic for the soul. Christina Connell has performed and recorded as a musician around the world.  In her teens, she performed French horn professionally with orchestras in Albuquerque, West Palm Beach, and New Haven, CT. 

After graduation from the Yale School of Music with a Masters in Music performance, she performed with the Norwegian Radio Orchestra, the Iceland Symphony, the Adelaide Symphony (Australia), and the Green Bay Symphony.  She also recorded solos and chamber music for Icelandic radio. She was offered a Fulbright Award to study horn, as well as a Scandinavian-American Foundation award.

She turned to folk music in the late 90’s, and started to make her own arrangements and compositions.  She competed and won the Okalahoma State Championship on hammered dulcimer in 2003, and has taught and played at Summerfest and Stringfling in Missouri, and the Indian Territory Dulcimer Club in Tulsa.

A Scottish family background and a great admiration for the richness of Celtic music influenced her choice of music, especially on the CD, Thistle Dew. Her classical and orchestral background is evident in the arrangements on both Thistle Dew, and Dennis’ Waltz (solo hammered dulcimer), both released in 2004.

She is also currently president of the Ozark Wilderness Dulcimer Club and plays in the group, Homemade Jam.