Cristina Ledford was born in Cincinnati, Ohio in 1977. After relocating to Florida, she showed up to middle school and approached her new band director with a tiny instrument in her hands. He told her that the piccolo was not a part of the band program and that she would have to learn the flute. Determined to change his mind, she would soon graduate Northport Middle School as the first student to play the piccolo in the program. Throughout high school she continued to push her teachers to allow her to focus on the piccolo. In high school she was the first chair flute/piccolo in the Fort Pierce Central High School Cobra Band. She went on to earn over 25 superior and superior with distinction medals for her solo work on flute and piccolo, as well as a member of flute trios, quartets, and woodwind ensemble entries. She was a finalist for the Young Floridian Award in music and a recipient of the Semper Fidelis Award for musical excellence. During her last two years, Cristina performed in the Festival of Winds Wind Ensemble where she played the piccolo. She also participated in honor band each year performing on the piccolo.
After graduation, Cristina attended Indian River Community College on a full scholarship where she played piccolo and principal flute in the Wind Ensemble, Symphonic Band and Theater Orchestra. She also played jazz flute/piccolo and tenor saxophone in the Jazz Band and Jazz Combo and was principal flute of the Treasure Coast Youth Symphony, where she also performed as a soloist with the orchestra. During this time she began studying with Christina Burr, principal flutist of the Brevard Symphony Orchestra. Cristina earned her Associate of Arts degree in 1997. After graduation, she went to the University of Central Florida on scholarship, where she played piccolo in both the Wind Ensemble and Concert Band. She continued her flute studies with Nora Lee Garcia and Susan McQuinn, as well as taking lessons with Peter Lloyd while he was in town. She was a finalist in the Florida Flute Association’s Young Artist Competition and also a masterclass winner. After graduation with her Bachelor of Music degree in 2001, Cristina transferred over to the University of Florida on a graduate assistantship in flute. She began her studies with Erika Leake and also studied with Dr. Kristen Stoner. Cristina was the solo piccoloist of the UF Wind Symphony during her years as a graduate student. This was the first time that the director decided not to rotate the piccolo part. Cristina recorded two CDs with the UF Wind Symphony – "Dances and Dreams" and "Mountain Music" where she can be heard on the piccolo. Cristina also performed in the University Symphony Orchestra as principal flute and piccolo. She was also the flutist/piccoloist for the New Music Ensemble. Cristina went on to win another masterclass competition with the Florida Flute Association and also won the piccolo position in the Central Florida Symphony Orchestra, where she later served as Principal Flute. She went on to give the first ever piccolo recital at the University of Florida and even made the front page of the school’s newspaper, “The Alligator”.
After receiving her Master of Music degree in 2003, Cristina moved to Moore Haven, Florida where she began her first teaching job with the Glades County School system. As the band director, Cristina taught both the concert and marching bands, as well as a beginning recorder class to non-music students and even an English IV class to seniors. In 2003, she recorded the flute and piccolo parts on her uncle Marcos Vega's CD entitled "Christmas Joy".
In 2004, Cristina and her family moved to Georgia. Still interested in the public school system, Cristina took on another band director position in Twiggs County where she taught the marching and concert bands, as well as guiding students into solo and ensemble competitions. In 2007, Cristina won a grant with Emeritus Recordings to record her first solo album of music for the piccolo. “Mosaic” was released in September 2008 to fantastic reviews. Cristina also served as the Adjunct Professor of Flute at Gordon College in Barnesville, Georgia. Most recently, she became the solo piccoloist of the Ocmulgee Symphony Orchestra in Hawkinsville, Georgia. This new group is filled with professional musicians from Georgia and the surrounding states. Cristina currently teaches in the Dooly County School system and maintains a small, private studio in her home. In 2009, Cristina became the Adjunct Instructor of Flute at Wesleyan College in Macon, GA.
Piccoloist.com shows her continuous devotion to her instrument. The website is filled with information about the piccolo, auditions, repertoire and so much more!
Cristina has performed in masterclass settings for the following flutists/piccoloists: Martha Rearick, Bernard Goldberg, Mary Karen Clardy, Nan Raphael, Amy Rice-Blumenthal, Jill Felber/Claudia Anderson ZAWA!, Jeanne Tarrant, Aaron Goldman, Alexa Still, Michel Debost, and Walfrid Kujala. She is currently mentored by Nicola Mazzanti, the Italian virtuoso piccoloist and recording artist.
She has contributed to piccolo repertoire through her CD and given premieres of the following pieces: “Mosaic” by Sy Brandon, “Mad Canary” by Marc Yeats, “A Piccolo Poem” by Fred Jonny Berg, “Concerto for Piccolo – piano version” by Avner Dorman, “Butterfly Metamorphosis” by Dietrich Vasquez, “Lunar Dance” by Chan Ji Kim, “Little Suite No. 2” by Barton Cummings, “Three Sketches” by Katherine Hoover, “Always, Sometime, Someday” by Steven Landis Jr.
She will premiere a new work by Marc Yeats later this year.
