Peak Performance

By Desiree Holz '23, February 1, 2023

Christina Bouey making an impact on the stage and in the classroom.

Christina Bouey, assistant professor of violin, took the stage twice at Carnegie Hall this past fall.

(Photo courtesy of Christina Bouey)

What could be better than a dream coming true? For Christina Bouey, assistant professor of violin, it was having a dream come true twice when she performed on two separate occasions at New York City’s famed Carnegie Hall.

Just three weeks after appearing in a solo recital in one of Carnegie’s smaller concert halls on October 3, she performed at Stern Auditorium in collaboration with the Senior Concert Orchestra of New York after being personally invited by Maestro David Gilbert.

“It was something I was waiting for for a long time,” said Bouey. “When I stepped onstage at Carnegie Hall, I sort of had this moment of wonder and amazement. But something inside me felt like it was right to be on this stage. I gave myself like 10 seconds, and then I said, ‘Okay, now it’s time to get to work.’”

“It meant a lot to me that [my students] made the time to come see me perform and that they just love the violin and music that much. I think that’s what makes the music program at IC so special. These students just live, eat, breathe music. It makes the job for me very inspiring how much they love it and how much they want it in their lives.”

Christina Bouey, assistant professor of violin

Although she hasn’t been teaching at Ithaca College for long, Bouey has already developed strong ties with students at IC, so much so that a group of them traveled to New York City to see her perform.

“It meant a lot to me that they made the time to come see me perform and that they just love the violin and music that much,” said Bouey. “I think that’s what makes the music program at IC so special. These students just live, eat, breathe music. It makes the job for me very inspiring how much they love it and how much they want it in their lives.”

Bouey, who currently serves as concertmaster of the Cayuga Chamber Orchestra in Ithaca, credits the connections she’s made in the community with helping her land her position at the college. She is also a full-time member of the internationally touring Ulysses Quartet, a string quartet that has just finished a three-year residency at the Juilliard School of Music.

Experience The Magic

Christina Bouey's performance at Carnegie Hall can be viewed on her Instagram page

Bouey travels on weekends and during school breaks to play over 80 concerts a year. She currently splits her time between Ithaca and New York City and said that managing her schedule can be challenging. But the friendly nature of the IC community has made it easier.

Bouey's performance at Carnegie Hall was the realization of a lifelong dream.

“I think even in my first week here everyone was very welcoming to me,” she said. “Both the faculty and students were great. Very quickly, I was able to see who they were as musicians and as people.”

As she continues to grow into her role at IC, Bouey hopes to transform the violin performance program with the wealth of knowledge she’s acquired from her years of performance and her personal experience in chamber music.

“I’m from a chamber music background. My string quartet has won numerous awards. We’re touring all over,” she said. “I want these students to know that this is possible for them when they leave school. I want them to know that the workforce—and the world—is always changing and evolving. I want to expand the program to set the students up for this kind of success.”

Even as she relished the opportunity to accomplish a career-long goal of performing at Carnegie, Bouey describes her time at IC as something equally rewarding.

“I have been able to live out some of my dreams, but I can also help young, aspiring, studious musicians in the process—that means a lot to me, too,” she said. “That’s been rewarding in a totally different way that I couldn’t have known until I started at Ithaca.”