By Tracy Marie Wamarema
Christina Wright-Ivanova is a classically trained pianist and educator who has followed her love of music across four continents and more than 30 countries. The foundation for her career was built at the University of Texas at Austin where she earned her Doctor of Musical Arts degree. Through her journey, Christina has sought to inspire young artists to live out their musical dreams, from classrooms in the U.S. to lecture halls in the UAE. This semester, she started at the American University of Sharjah as Head of the Performing Arts program.
Over the years you have garnered a reputation for being a “brilliant pianist”; what drew you to the piano?
I grew up on a remote island called Guernsey, which is part of the UK in the Channel Islands from age 2 to 12 years old. There was only one piano teacher working on Guernsey at that time, so Arts & Culture on the island was pretty limited. However, my Dutch mother was always singing and playing classical music in the house – she loved lots of sound and activity in the house, even though I was an only child and the island was a quiet place. My mother deeply shaped my musical passions and curiosity from a young age. When we moved to Vancouver Island in Canada when I was 12, music became an integral part of my life. I found a true mentor in my piano teacher, Susan de Burgh, and was exposed to piano, choir, band classes and theory lessons throughout my middle and high school studies. The relationship between piano teacher and student is very unique: one-on-one lessons build trust and the ability to have discussions about life and art, philosophy and taking risks in a way a child can’t always do openly at home.
How did that early connection evolve into a career?
My career evolved out of many hours of joy, tears and frustration at the piano, especially during the pivotal time from around 14 to 25 years old. Over the years, I overcame physical, mental and emotional challenges at the instrument, so there’s this special bond that forms between you and your instrument. In this way, a performing artist is very similar to an athlete and often, we need to deal with the biggest hurdle of all, which is to create a focused, calm and prepared mindset. I learned over these young years to embrace the process of practice, to become maximally efficient in the work I was doing, while also allowing myself to live in a place of discomfort during the artistic process. I believe that these elements helped me to craft a career in the performing arts.
What does it mean to be a performing artist?
To be a performing artist professionally requires a lifetime commitment to the craft, in the same way science at the highest level does. Performing Arts practice is very similar to practicing sports as, for example, Olympic athletes do – it takes incredible dedication, daily work and mindset focus, physical awareness of technique and a spiritual openness. I love the Martha Graham quote: “No artist is pleased. There is no satisfaction whatsoever at any time. There is only a queer, divine dissatisfaction; a blessed unrest that keeps us marching and makes us more alive than the others.”
This is our daily work – to keep the channel open, to listen, and to dig deep into the most complex aspects of our humanity in order to understand and to collaborate.
From Concert Series across the U.S. to international performances across Europe, your career has spanned over 30 countries. What is one performance or experience that fundamentally shaped how you approach your art?
In 2008, I had the great honor to spend three months in Venezuela as part of the El Sistema program. This is a government-sponsored classical music program designed to support young people in their pursuit of classical music. These students didn’t come from families who could financially support them, so they were just practicing purely for the love of music. One of my most special memories on stage was a concert where I played with these young students in an auditorium. It wasn’t particularly flashy, like many of the concert halls in the U.S. or Europe that I’d played in, but it was so memorable to work with these amazing young musicians who were full of passion and excitement. Over the three months, I played in several different cities in Venezuela, with tons of different professional and student musicians, and that summer reinforced the reasons why I play music – for the communication between people, crossing borders and breaking barriers.
Throughout your performances across different cultures and continents, have you noticed a difference in how your music is received?
Yes! Some nations are very familiar with classical Western, euro-centric music, since it’s baked into their education curriculum from a young age. Of course, there is a huge variety of music in the world, and many influences within that variety. Some Western composers were looking for inspiration from the East, and some Eastern composers were looking towards the West. There are several different kinds of audiences, and sometimes a venue or performance will surprise me – I’ve played in venues where I didn’t expect the audience to listen so carefully and quietly! I’ve also played in places where I could feel the audience was restless. People usually attend classical music concerts for a variety of reasons, but the fundamental desire is that they wish to be artistically moved, so I try to engage the listener as much as possible from a place of honesty, directness and expression.
Your career extends beyond stages into classrooms. You’ve taught master classes across universities and most recently started at AUS as an Associate Professor of Music and Head of the Performing Arts Program. What brought you to the UAE?
This is a great question! I’ve always been very curious about the Middle East and the UAE in particular. There is such a unique diversity of cultures and the fact that AUS is number one globally for diversity was fascinating to me, and definitely a huge part of the reason I wanted to come here. I want to spend the first semester here in a state of listening and learning, trying to soak up where the students are coming from. One element of being a musician that is helpful in life is the capacity to frame the understanding of a nation in their music, to the point where you almost can feel like you understand the people through their music. As I’m meeting students from the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Lebanon, India, Palestine, Egypt, Jordan and so many other countries in the MENA region and beyond, I’m struck by how much I have to learn about their cultures and ways of entering musical and cultural spaces. I’m already learning so much from my amazing students here at AUS – this is a really special place, and I’m honored to be here.
What unique perspective do you hope to bring?
What I hope to bring to AUS and the UAE is the sense that classical music is for everyone – it’s for the people of the world. I hope to create an entrance into this incredible field for all my students here, so they can feel even a small amount of the joy, reflection, and understanding that I feel when I listen and play this incredible repertoire. As Head of the Performing Arts Department, there is a lot to do, and I’m excited to dive into the work. We want to build our offerings here at AUS in the Performing Arts and I’m grateful to have the support here to do some meaningful work to support our students in their artistic paths.
You’ve mentored young artists across five different academic institutions, as AUS students begin working with you, what do you hope they’ll learn with regards to building a career in the performing arts?
I would want them to know that not all arts careers are linear. Sometimes, they can be crafted and curated with a mixture of performing, teaching, arts administration, interdisciplinary work, backstage work, design and much more. As a university student in liberal arts at a top globally-ranked institution such as AUS, students need to learn how to practice and how to embrace the process rather than the final result. Of course, the final result is key, but without passion and understanding for process, there may not be enough joy to sustain a long career in the arts. I want to let students know that they can embrace a career path that doesn’t always look like a 9 to 5, and that in today’s world, they can afford to think outside the box and curate a career for themselves that includes their artistic passions and be financially viable.
How do you perceive the relationship between the arts and the sciences as an educator?
I talk to my students here about finding intersections between their major and their music studies, so where are the Physics/Music intersections, or the Architecture/Theatre intersections… in this way, students are thinking critically about how art and science connect and enhance each other. It’s also worth noting that the Arts don’t have copyright over Creativity, just as the Sciences don’t have copyright over Structure. In my opinion, they are intrinsically linked and need to intertwine daily if the student wishes to have the most well-rounded outlook on their life and career.
As an advocate for arts in education, why do you think the performing arts are essential in universities today?
Performing Arts are not only an escape from the realities of our lives, but they are also critical to inform our understanding of people, communities, collaboration and the deepest parts of our humanity. The Performing Arts are absolutely critical to the young generations. They will help build resilience, openness and understanding in young generations. It’s an honor to practice with these young people every day, and I feel very blessed to do this work.
