Principal Tuba of The Phoenix Symphony, Cristina Cutts grew up in South Africa, England, New York, and New Mexico. She began her tuba studies with Dr. Richard Antoine White in Albuquerque, and went on to graduate with honors from the Interlochen Arts Academy in 2015, where she was a pupil of trombonist Thomas Riccobono for two years. In 2019, she received her Bachelor of Music in Tuba Performance from the Colburn School, studying with Norman Pearson, and in 2022 she graduated from the Curtis Institute of Music with an Artist Diploma after three years of study with Craig Knox and Paul Krzywicki.
Cristina joined The Phoenix Symphony in 2023. In 2024, she won the audition for Principal Tuba of the Chautauqua Symphony Orchestra, and will join the orchestra in that position in summer of 2025. Cristina was the Acting Principal Tuba for the Britt Festival Orchestra in 2022 and 2023, and has been a guest tubist with the Los Angeles Philharmonic, Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra, London Symphony Orchestra, Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra, Baltimore Symphony Orchestra, Seattle Symphony, San Diego Symphony, and the Louisville Orchestra. During her school years, Cristina was a tuba fellow with the National Repertory Orchestra, and held the position of Principal Tuba with both Symphony in C outside of Philadelphia and the American Youth Symphony in Los Angeles. She held the 2020/2021 tuba fellowship for the Music Academy of the West, and received an Alumni Enterprise Award in 2021. Cristina is also a proud recipient of several grants from the Sphinx Organization's National Alliance for Audition Support.
Cristina won First Prize at the International Tuba & Euphonium Young Artist Competition in 2016. That same year, she was unanimously chosen as the winner of the National Symphony's Summer Music Institute concerto competition and as a result she performed the Vaughan Williams Tuba Concerto in the Kennedy Center. Upon moving to Los Angeles for her undergraduate studies, she was recognized as the “Most Promising Talent," of the Pasadena Showcase Instrumental Competition for woodwinds, brass, and strings, and went on in 2017 to win the Grand Prize overall in the same competition - the first tubist in the history of the competition to do so, and the youngest candidate in that year’s final round. Cristina has appeared as a soloist with the Colburn Orchestra and was a National YoungArts Foundation Medalist, and can be heard as a soloist on the radio show Performance Today with Fred Child, for which she was a Young Artist in Residence in 2021.
A passionate chamber musician and educator, Cristina was the tubist for Seraph Brass from 2022 - 2024. She toured extensively with the group as a Live on Stage concert artist, and performed and served as a guest artist for prominent festivals and educational institutions across the world, including Lieksa Brass Week in Finland, The U.S. Army Band “Pershing’s Own” American Trombone Workshop, University of Toronto, University of North Texas, and Chamber Music Raleigh. Cristina has presented masterclasses to university students around the country, and has served as a faculty member at the Interlochen Arts Camp, Eastman Tuba/Euphonium Academy, the Brevard Music Center, and the Gravissimo Low Brass Festival. Cristina is currently on faculty at Arizona State University, and in summer of 2025 Cristina will be on faculty at the Interlochen Low Brass Institute, the Cleveland Trombone Seminar, and the Chautauqua Festival School.
Cristina joined The Phoenix Symphony in 2023. In 2024, she won the audition for Principal Tuba of the Chautauqua Symphony Orchestra, and will join the orchestra in that position in summer of 2025. Cristina was the Acting Principal Tuba for the Britt Festival Orchestra in 2022 and 2023, and has been a guest tubist with the Los Angeles Philharmonic, Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra, London Symphony Orchestra, Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra, Baltimore Symphony Orchestra, Seattle Symphony, San Diego Symphony, and the Louisville Orchestra. During her school years, Cristina was a tuba fellow with the National Repertory Orchestra, and held the position of Principal Tuba with both Symphony in C outside of Philadelphia and the American Youth Symphony in Los Angeles. She held the 2020/2021 tuba fellowship for the Music Academy of the West, and received an Alumni Enterprise Award in 2021. Cristina is also a proud recipient of several grants from the Sphinx Organization's National Alliance for Audition Support.
Cristina won First Prize at the International Tuba & Euphonium Young Artist Competition in 2016. That same year, she was unanimously chosen as the winner of the National Symphony's Summer Music Institute concerto competition and as a result she performed the Vaughan Williams Tuba Concerto in the Kennedy Center. Upon moving to Los Angeles for her undergraduate studies, she was recognized as the “Most Promising Talent," of the Pasadena Showcase Instrumental Competition for woodwinds, brass, and strings, and went on in 2017 to win the Grand Prize overall in the same competition - the first tubist in the history of the competition to do so, and the youngest candidate in that year’s final round. Cristina has appeared as a soloist with the Colburn Orchestra and was a National YoungArts Foundation Medalist, and can be heard as a soloist on the radio show Performance Today with Fred Child, for which she was a Young Artist in Residence in 2021.
A passionate chamber musician and educator, Cristina was the tubist for Seraph Brass from 2022 - 2024. She toured extensively with the group as a Live on Stage concert artist, and performed and served as a guest artist for prominent festivals and educational institutions across the world, including Lieksa Brass Week in Finland, The U.S. Army Band “Pershing’s Own” American Trombone Workshop, University of Toronto, University of North Texas, and Chamber Music Raleigh. Cristina has presented masterclasses to university students around the country, and has served as a faculty member at the Interlochen Arts Camp, Eastman Tuba/Euphonium Academy, the Brevard Music Center, and the Gravissimo Low Brass Festival. Cristina is currently on faculty at Arizona State University, and in summer of 2025 Cristina will be on faculty at the Interlochen Low Brass Institute, the Cleveland Trombone Seminar, and the Chautauqua Festival School.
