Christina Castellanos
Christina Castellanos, MM, is Principal Flutist of The Salt Lake Symphony, Second Flutist of the Las Vegas Philharmonic, a position she has held since 2001 as a senior in college, and Principal Flutist of The Nevada POPS. She also frequently plays flute and piccolo in The Utah Symphony, The Orchestra at Temple Square for the Mormon Tabernacle Choir, Phantom: The Las Vegas Spectacular show (2006-2012), and in the TAD Wind Symphony in Japan. She had the privilege of playing principal flute under the direction of Itzhak Perlman and has played for many artists such as Harry Connick Jr., Ben Folds, ABBA, KANSAS, Cirque du Soleil, Michel Legrand (PBS Broadcast), Luis Fonsi (2009 Latin Grammys), Jerry Lewis, Andy Williams, Dionne Warwick, Vanessa Williams, Peter Shickele, Andrea Bocelli (west coast tour), Il Divo, and Placido Domingo.
Her performance of Claude Debussy’s L’apres midi d’un faune (Afternoon of a Faun) in February 2012 received a review by Claire Voyant, gossip columnist for Las Vegas Online…The Debussy featured Tina Hadley (Castellanos) (who drove in from Salt Lake for the concert) beautifully playing the solo flute, and filling The East Tropicana Community 
Lutheran Sanctuary with her tender and lilting sound. As a concerto soloist, Christina played with The Salt Lake Symphony in March 2014, the College of Southern Nevada Symphony Orchestra in May 2005, with the University of Nevada, Las Vegas Symphony Orchestra in 1998, 1999, and 2001 as a winner of the James K. Huntzinger Concerto Competition, performing the Ibert Concerto, and with the Viewmont High School Orchestra in 1996 and 1998.
As a frequent recitalist, Christina has performed solo and chamber programs in Utah, Nevada, and California. Premiere performances include Morning Nocturne by Tommy Yu, Creation Dance and God Lives in Glass by Keith Thompson, and Dracula: A New Musical by Richard Oberacker. Chamber playing includes performances with The Las Vegas Woodwind Quintet in Nevada, The Blackbird Music Project in California, The Candlelight Trio in Nevada, and accompanying The Cathedral of The Madeleine Boys Choir in Utah. As a clinician, Christina has been a guest artist at The University of Nevada, Las Vegas in September 2013 where she gave a recital and taught a masterclass for the flute studio.
Christina can be heard on recordings as solo flutist for The Frankie Moreno Band: The Unknown Artist, on the Bermuda Record Label alongside artists such as Joshua Bell. She can also be heard on recordings as principal flutist for Dale Wilson’s No Mo Chalumeau! Live at the 67th ABA Convention, Daron Hagen’s Shining Brow and Bandanna, Steve Bryant’s Monkey, flute and piccolo on The Mormon Tabernacle and Orchestra at Temple Square’s album Teach Me To Walk In The Light and Other Children’s Favorites, as solo flutist for Dan Carter’s Come Unto Him, and flute and piccolo on video game music by Chance Thomas: Dungeons and Dragons, Might and Magic, and Lord of The Rings: Riders of Rohan.
Graduating Summa Cum Laude with a Master’s degree in flute performance from UNLV, Tina was chosen to be the outstanding graduate of the music department in May 2004. She won the Honor Jury Award for Graduate Woodwinds twice. Along with being the graduate teaching assistant of flute, 
she was an instructor of sight singing, music theory, music fundamentals, and the director of the UNLV Flute Ensemble. In 2002, she graduated Magna Cum Laude with a Bachelor’s degree in flute performance also from the University of Nevada Las Vegas where she was selected as the outstanding graduating senior of the music department. She won the Honor Jury Award four times. As an undergraduate, she performed with the UNLV Wind Symphony with which she recorded and toured the U.S. and Japan, and the UNLV Symphony Orchestra as principal flute for four years.
She also performed in opera productions, woodwind quintets, UNLV Chamber Players, and The Nextet new music ensemble with which she premiered many pieces. She was a recipient of a full-tuition scholarship, the Liberace Scholarship, the UNLV Alumni Scholarship, and the Morelli Woodwind Quintet Scholarship. 
Along with being a member of the National Golden Key Honor Society and the National Society of Collegiate Scholars, Tina was the founding President of the Kappa Theta Chapter and the founding President of the Las Vegas Alumnae Chapter of Sigma Alpha Iota. Some of the awards she has received from Sigma Alpha Iota are the Sword of Honor, Province College Leadership Award (Ruby Sword of Honor), the Scholastic Award, National College Leadership Award, chapter nominee for the National Alumnae Leadership Award, and Honorable Mention of the National Graduate Performance Awards Competition.
Tina has performed in many music festivals including Domaine Forget in Canada, the Lake Placid International Flute Seminar twice, the National Flute Association Conventions, the Summer Flute Fest at Snow College, the Utah State University Summer Music Camp, and the Utah Flute Association Conventions with flutists such as Jeanne Baxtresser, Dr. Bradley Garner, Carol Wincenc, Jim Walker, Leone Buyse, Timothy Day, Tadeu Coelho, Claudia Anderson, Jill Felber, Brooks de-Wetter-Smith, John Barcellona, Jan Gippo, Keith Underwood, Linda Chesis, Dr. Lisa Garner, Jeffrey Kahner, Susan Hoeppner, Michael Parloff, Andre Papillon, Denis Bluteau, Robert Cram, and Emmanuel Pahud.
Service to the flute community has been important to Tina as she has been on the Board of Directors of the Las Vegas Flute Club as the Membership Coordinator 2003-2004, the 2004-2006 President-Elect, and the 2006-2008 Special Events Coordinator. She has served as the Publicity Director, Vice President, and is currently The President of The Utah Flute Association. Since the age of 16, Tina has maintained a full-time private flute studio of which her students have won many local and national
competitions including 2 winners of the Las Vegas Philharmonic Young Artist Concerto Competition, and been accepted to the Las Vegas Academy for the Performing Arts. She was the Assistant Flute Instructor at The University of Nevada, Las Vegas 2002-07, and on the faculty of The Nevada School of the Arts. Her current studios include Las Vegas, Salt Lake City (Day Murray Music), and Bountiful, Utah.
Tina’s primary teachers were Nancy Toone (Utah) and Dr. Richard Soule (Nevada). She lived in Las Vegas for 10 years, and now resides in Bountiful, Utah with her husband Chris Castellanos (French Horn soloist of The Boston Brass), their daughter Lily and son Orion.
