Christina Oleksandrivna Kolessa (b. 15 October 1915, Vienna - d. 22 July 1978, Ottawa) was a Canadian cellist and music educator of Ukrainian descent. Daughter of Oleksandr, sister of Liubka Kolessa.
Biography.
She was born on 15 October 1915 in Vienna (now Austria). She studied cello in 1923-1924 at the Music School of M. Didjelly; in 1924-1927 - at the Vienna Academy of Music with P. Grimmer; in 1927-1930 - at the Hochschule für Musik in Cologne. From 1931 to 1933, she improved her performance skills with G. Becker in Merano and in 1937 in Munich. In 1939, she graduated from the Conservatory in Königsbeis.
Since 1930, she has given concerts in Germany, Austria, Switzerland, the Netherlands, Czechoslovakia, and Poland. She performed in an ensemble with her sister.
Since 1948, she has lived in Canada. In 1952, she was one of the founders of the Ukrainian Music Institute in Toronto. In 1950-1963 she taught cello in Toronto and in 1961-1977 in Ottawa. At the same time, from 1962 to 1970, she was a member of the Chamber Orchestra of the Ottawa Public Radio in Ottawa.
She died in Ottawa on 22 July 1978. She was buried in Toronto.
Creativity.
Her repertoire included works by Johann Sebastian Bach, Luigi Boccherini, Giovanni Sammartini, Benedetto Marcello, Pietro Locatelli, Giuseppe Tartini, Joseph Haydn, Ludwig van Beethoven, Franz Schubert, Johannes Brahms, Camille Saint-Saëns, as well as Ukrainian composers, including Vasyl Barvinsky. She has made a number of recordings on gramophone discs.
She is the author of publications on the musical life of Canada.
