Christina Rusnak

Christina Rusnak
is a composer, explorer and cultural catalyst who draws inspiration from the world around her. Passionate about composing about place and the human experience, Rusnak seeks to integrate a sense of context into her music from a variety of sources including landscape, culture, history, ecology and art, she strives to communicate something meaningful about the human experience through music. In that vein, she works to write music that is engaging as well as thought provoking.

An avid hiker, she has been commissioned by the U.S. Forest Service, The National Park Service, and Oregon State Parks. Ms. Rusnak’s works include chamber, orchestra, wind band, short film, and solo pieces as well as women’s choir, jazz, electro-acoustic works. She is eager to explore new musical challenges. In 2019, she led the renowned Composing in the Wilderness Seminar in Alaska. During the covid shutdowns in 2020, Ms. Rusnak focused on adapting several of her pieces for flexible instrumentation for winds. Most recently, she completed The South Pass for Chamber Orchestra, and Pine Meadow for Percussion Quartet.

Composing since age nine, Ms. Rusnak earned her graduate degree in composition and arts leadership at the University of North Texas. A passionate writer and advocate for new music and place, Rusnak’s essays have been published in New Music Box, Oregon Arts Watch, and the Journal of the International Alliance for Women in Music. A member of the Landscape Music Composers Network, she serves on the board of the International Alliance for Women in Music and on the advisory board of Signal Fire Arts. Her recordings are available through Amazon, Parma Recordings, and Naxos.