A native of Houston, Texas, Christine Hsia completed her undergraduate degree with honors at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music, where she studied with Jean-Michel Fonteneau. Ms. Hsia began playing cello at the age of five, studying privately with various Bay Area teachers including Ariel Witbeck, the late Mildred Rosner and Sergei Riabtchenko.
She comes from a family of active musicians and artists. Her mother, Catherine Leu, is the music director at the East Bay Formosan United Methodist Church. Her younger sister, Tabitha Hsia, is a graduate of violin performance from the University of the Pacific and was concertmistress of the University Symphony Orchestra. Her uncle, Hung-Hui Lu is the Director of International Exchange Center at Taipei National University of the Arts. Her great-grandfather, Lu Tieh-Chou 呂鐵州, was well known for his beautiful art that now has permanent residence with the Taipei Fine Arts Museum.
From 1997 to 2008, Ms. Hsia has consecutively won first place as well as scholarship support in the Contra Costa String Association competition. She also placed second in the 35th Yen Liang Young Artist Award and tied Honorable Mention performing the Lalo Cello Concerto in the Oakland Youth Orchestra’s concerto competition in December 2007.
During her four years at Northgate High School in Walnut Creek, she played in the school orchestra as principal cellist. She also joined her school choir, Bella Voce. With these two groups, she performed in Disneyland’s music program, Magic Music Days. She also formed a string quartet at school that performed Gettysburg by the Turtle Island String Quartet at Yoshi’s Jazz Club, Oakland. She also joined their string trio which received a Command Performance with the California Music Educators’ Association. Her repertoire not only includes classical music and jazz, but widens into more modern pieces composed by her peers, Arthur Adams, and Greg Schulte, also known as MagicalMerk on YouTube.
Outside of school, Ms. Hsia has played in the Oakland Youth Orchestra for six years under the direction of conductor Michael Morgan. She was principal cellist in the Junior Bach Festival in 2008, and toured with the group to Australia and New Zealand in 2004 and Greece in 2007. From her membership in OYO, she has been featured on the front page of the Oakland Tribune’s Cityside page and was awarded a Certificate of Appreciation from Senator Barbara Boxer.
Ms. Hsia performed as soloist, playing Faure’s Elegie Op. 24, with the Diablo Valley College Philharmonic Orchestra in 2008. Following this performance, she accepted an invitation to play as principal cellist for the California State University East Bay Symphony Orchestra from the late San Francisco Symphony cellist, Lawrence Granger. Ms. Hsia’s primary performance instrument is a Frederich Wyss Montagnana crafted in 2000.
A few of her extracurricular activities and interests include performing at farmers’ markets, photography, and traveling extensively. Beyond teaching music, she was a volunteer for John Muir Medical Center for four years. She is an active performer in her community, currently performing as principal cellist with the Diablo Symphony Orchestra, volunteering with their school outreach program, and performing with Missouri Street Theatre’s Pit Orchestra for musicals. Ms. Hsia recently placed second in a 2020 Microsoft DAx (Dynamics Admin Experiences) Talent Show, performing Piazzolla’s Tanti Anni Prima with her quartet, “Bay Area Musicians”.