Christina Rusnak

From Wind Repertory Project
Christina Rusnak

Biography

Christina Rusnak (b. in St. Louis, Mo.) is an American composer.

Christina Rusnak seeks to integrate context into her music from the world around her, including landscape, culture, history and art. She strives to compose music that is engaging as well as thought provoking.

Ms. Rusnak’s work includes chamber, orchestra, wind band and solo pieces as well as jazz, women’s choir, electro-acoustic works, and film. Ms. Rusnak's work has been performed and/or commissioned by diverse organizations and ensembles such as Dallas Contemporary Art Museum, the U.S. Forest Service, Oregon State Parks and musicians including Third Angle, Citywater and Corvus New Music Ensembles, The Kiev Philharmonic Orchestra, Leading Tones Music, Ensemble Vocal Luna, pianist Jeffrey Jacob and cellist Ovidiu Marinescu among others. In 2016, she traveled to Cuba as part of the People–to-People program to record with Vocal Luna in Havana. In 2018, Ms. Rusnak worked with Kino-Lorber Films to score the restored the silent film, A House Divided. Her work has been performed across the country, most recently,in Carnegie Hall, the Festival of New American Music, and Tucson’s Turn Up Festival.

A member of the Landscape Music Composers Network, a significant share of Ms. Rusnak’s work focus on the American landscape. Between 2012 and 2021, she partook in composer residencies at several national and state parks, and was commissioned by the U.S. Forest Service to commemorate the Wilderness Act. For the 50th anniversary of the National Trails System, Rusnak’s Oregon Trail integrated the perspectives of indigenous people with the landscape. From 2015-2018, she served on the board of Signal Fire Arts - connecting Artists of all disciplines to the natural World. In 2019, she led the Composing in the Wilderness Seminar as part of the Fairbanks Summer Arts Festival.

An advocate, writer and speaker for music and landscape, her essays have been published in LandscapeMusic.org, New Music Box, Jazz Education Network and more. Composing since age nine, Ms. Rusnak earned her graduate degrees in Composition and Arts Leadership at the University of North Texas. From 2016-2019 she served as Treasurer for the International Alliance for Women in Music and in 2020 elected president.


Works for Winds

Adaptable Music


All Wind Works


Resources

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