Flute
Christina Castellanos is the Assistant Professor of Flute at Brigham Young University.
A proud native of Bountiful, Utah, Christina’s primary teacher was Nancy Toone, and she later received her Bachelors and Masters degrees, graduating Magna Cum Laude as the Outstanding Senior and Summa Cum Laude as the Outstanding Graduate, with Dr. Richard Soule at The University of Nevada, Las Vegas while also serving as president of Sigma Alpha Iota and the Las Vegas Flute Club.
Since then, Christina has enjoyed a prosperous and diverse musical career. After becoming 2nd Flutist of The Las Vegas Philharmonic at the age of 22 and later appointed to Principal Flutist, Christina quickly established herself as a top call freelance musician on the Las Vegas Strip, playing hundreds of shows over a 6 year run of Phantom – The Las Vegas Spectacular, as well as backing countless headliners – most notably: Placido Domingo, Pavarotti, Frank Sinatra Jr., Andrea Bocelli, Harry Connick Jr., Weird Al Yankovic, and Seth MacFarlane. She has had the pleasure of playing under the direction of Itzhak Perlman and Michael Giacchino, and shared the stage with artists such as STING, Ben Folds, Kristen Chenoweth, Renee Fleming, The Beach Boys, LeAnn Rimes, Arturo Sandoval, Il Divo, Gentri, Kansas, The Who, and Journey.
Besides her duties as Principal Flutist the Las Vegas Philharmonic, Christina can be heard as principal flutist of The Nevada Ballet Theater, Salt Lake Symphony, and solo flutist of Sinfonia Salt Lake as well as very frequent performances with the Utah Symphony, Utah Opera, Ballet West Orchestra, Boise Philharmonic, Reno Philharmonic, Reno Chamber Orchestra, Orchestra at Temple Square for the Tabernacle Choir, the TAD Wind Symphony in Japan, and many off Broadway musical productions.
While Christina enjoys immensely playing with orchestras and freelancing, one of her biggest passions is solo and chamber music work. As a soloist, not only has Christina performed many of the great “standard” classic pieces with bands and orchestras alike, but she works hard to contribute building great flute repertoire through commissions such as Stacy Garrop’s “Phoenix Rising”, which she recently performed as a soloist at the National Flute Association Convention.
As an educator, Christina has served as adjunct professor of flute at the Snow College, Horne School of Music, Utah Valley University, and assistant flute instructor at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. As a clinician, Christina has been a guest artist at Utah State University, Salem Youth Symphony, Anna Maria College Music Institute, The Utah Flute Association, and The Blackbird Music Project in California to name a few. Besides her studio teaching, Christina has published hundreds of instructional videos online for Musician’s Toolkit and Connect Through Music.
Christina has also continued to make community service a priority as past President of The Utah Flute Association and as a facilitator for “The Jed Moss Collaborative Pianist Scholarship”, endowed in perpetuity at The University of Utah.
When Christina isn’t teaching or performing, she enjoys spending time with her husband, Chris, co-owner and solo horn of Boston Brass, and their two beautiful children, Lily and Orion.
John McMurtery is Second Flute in the Las Vegas Philharmonic. He enjoys a varied career as an orchestral flutist, soloist, chamber musician, composer, and teacher. Currently, he is section flutist of the New York City Opera Orchestra, and principal of the School of American Ballet Orchestra at Lincoln Center, having served as guest principal flutist with the Chicago Symphony, Chicago Lyric Opera, the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra, and the Detroit Symphony. He performed with the Chicago Symphony on its 2017 European tour with Maestro Riccardo Muti. Previously, he was principal flutist with the Opera Orchestra of New York, the Peoria Symphony, the Crested Butte Festival Orchestra, the Dicapo Opera, and the Manhattan Chamber Orchestra, and as piccoloist with the Oregon Symphony. McMurtery has performed regularly with the New Jersey Symphony and the Amici NY Orchestra at the OK Mozart Festival in Bartlesville, Oklahoma.
Of a Lincoln Center Festival performance of a Brian Ferneyhough work for solo flute, the New York Times wrote, “Carceri d’Invenzione IIb, a tour de force for flute bristling with invention, was played brilliantly by John McMurtery, exploring the extreme high and low registers of the instrument, zapping back and forth at hyperspeed." As soloist, McMurtery has appeared with the New York Symphonic Ensemble in Japan, the Peoria Symphony, the Manhattan Chamber Orchestra, the Reno Chamber Orchestra, and at the Wien Modern festival. He has given many premieres and continues to commission new works.
As chamber musician, McMurtery is a founding member of Luna Nova and UpTown Flutes. He recorded for the NAXOS, Kleos, Navona, and Albany record labels. At the 2015 Santa Fe Chamber Music Festival he performed and recorded Messiaen’s Des canyons aux etoiles… under the direction of Maestro Alan Gilbert. Most recently, McMurtery recorded two CDs of solo and chamber music by Louis Anthony deLise for Bocage Records.
Prior to his current appointment as Associate Professor of Flute at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, McMurtery held teaching appointments at Western Illinois University, the Westminster Conservatory Young Artist Program, and the Lucy Moses School in New York City. He has given masterclasses throughout the US, Japan, and in Shenzhen, China, and has appeared as guest artist at flute festivals in Illinois, Missouri, Nevada, New Jersey, New York, Oregon, and Tennessee. McMurtery is a past president of the New York Flute Club and is currently president of the Las Vegas Flute Club. His compositions include several works for flute ensemble that are
published by Art of Sound Music that are performed throughout the United States.
Dr. McMurtery earned his DMA from The Juilliard School, where he studied with Julius Baker, Robert Langevin, and Jeanne Baxtresser. He received his MM from Rutgers University as a student of Bart Feller, and BM from Central Washington University where he studied with Dr. Hal Ott.
Southern California native Elvin Schlanger is the newly appointed 3rd Flute/Piccolo of the Las Vegas Philharmonic. He is also the Principal Flute of the California Young Artists Symphony and has made appearances with the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra, Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra, Pacific Symphony, and Symphony San Jose.
Elvin has won and placed in several competitions including the Sphinx Orchestral Partners Competition, the Music Academy of the West Keston MAX Competition, and the Music Academy of the West Duo Competition. Most recently, he was awarded 2nd prize in the National Flute Association Young Artist Competition. He has appeared as a soloist with the Inland Valley Youth Symphony, Southern California Philharmonic, Orange County Youth Symphony Orchestra, Pacific Academy Festival Orchestra, and the Colburn Orchestra.
Elvin received his Artist Diploma from the Colburn School where he studied with Jim Walker. He is also a graduate of the Yale School of Music where he earned his Master’s Degree studying with Ransom Wilson, and of CSU Long Beach where he received his Bachelor’s Degree studying with Dr. John Barcellona. He has had the honor of working with legendary flutists and teachers such as Denis Bouriakov, Sarah Jackson, Carol Wincenc, Demarre McGill, Jennifer Grim, Philippe Bernold, Emmanuel Pahud, Yubeen Kim, and Sebastian Jacot.
Elvin is a Wm. S. Haynes Young Artist, and plays a Haynes Custom Fusion flute.