Christian Whitacre

Hailing from a rural Virginian farm, bassoonist Christian Whitacre is an NYC-based orchestral and chamber musician.

As an orchestral performer, this season’s highlights include performances with the Washington Choral Arts Society, Alexandria Symphony, Harrisburg Symphony, WA Sinfonietta, and the Lucerne Festival Contemporary Orchestra. In past seasons, Christian has performed with the Washington National Opera, the New World Symphony, Washington Chamber Orchestra, Atlantic Symphony, and Philharmonia Boston on stages ranging from the Kennedy Center to the Santo Domingo Conservatory. He has served as Guest Principal Bassoon of the Great Falls Philharmonic since 2023.

As a chamber musician, Whitacre has been hailed as “dynamic and electrifying” as the bassoonist of IGNIS, a nationally award winning wind quintet founded in 2021. IGNIS won Grand Prize in the 2023 NOLA Chamberfest Emerging Artists Competition and medaled at the 50th Fischoff National Chamber Music Competition. The group also served as the Ensemble-In-Residence at The University of New Orleans in 2023 along with the Maine Chamber Music Seminar in 2022.

Passionate about contemporary music and pushing the boundaries of the classical canon, Whitacre performed as principal bassoon with the inaugural American Modern Orchestra at the Mostly Modern Festival. His extensive new music repertoire includes the commissioning and world premiere of multiple pieces for bassoon and electronics, most recently “Outliers” (2024) by Peter Knoll in collaboration with Grammy-nominated ensemble Sandbox Percussion. Christian also performs in experimental music series in the Washington, D.C. area with Ensemble Vesper, a group dedicated to the performance and expansion of contemporary and experimental music for wind quintet. In 2024, he was featured on a studio recording of Viet Cuong’s “Trains of Thought” (2012) for piano trio alongside Jaqueline Leclair and Pamela Reiner.

Whitacre has completed fellowships at the Bowdoin International Music Festival, Miami Music Festival, and Kent Blossom Music Festival. Whitacre is a current Fellow at the CUNY Graduate Center pursuing a DMA. Whitacre has received a M.M. from the University of Maryland as a Wind Quintet Fellow, a B.M. from the New England Conservatory, and a Professional Certificate from the Mannes School of Music. His primary mentors have included Rebekah Heller, Joseph Grimmer, Richard Svoboda, William Winstead, and Rachael Elliot.

When he is not on stage, Christian is usually making reeds or hanging out with his partner and their orange cat, Fred.

PC: John Di Fatta