Southeast violin professor gets around

Growing up in a musical household, Southeast Missouri State University applied violin and viola professor Brandon Christensen knew from a young age he wanted to have some sort of career in music.

"The story is that when I came home from my first violin lesson, I told my mother I was going to be a violinist when I grew up," Christensen said.

After receiving a doctorate of musical arts from Stony Brook University in New York, Christensen began teaching at Southeast in 2002. He not only teaches, but is the founder and artistic director of the Sundays at Three concert series at the River Campus.

He travels frequently for concerts and works with private studios in Cape Girardeau and St. Louis. He plays with the Southeast Missouri State University Orchestra and has performed during the summer at the Southern Illinois Music Festival.

Christensen has traveled to Italy to perform in the Ascoli Piceno Festival and worked with the Beijing Sinfonietta in China. He said he loves Beijing and has fallen in love with Italy. He said he has traveled to China quite a bit, even taking a sabbatical there in 2008.

He recently traveled to Stockholm and did a residency at one of the music universities there. He said the travel gave him the opportunity to work with world-class musicians from all over the world.

"Every fall, I travel to Italy," Christensen said. "The violin I play is Italian, so whenever I go to Italy, it's like it knows it's home."

During graduate school, Christensen said he made contacts overseas, which is one of his reasons for his travels.

He said another reason for traveling is an academic exchange. He gave an example where if he met someone in China and they worked together, he would arrange for that person to come to Southeast to teach. The fact he can travel and promote Southeast is something he takes pride in.

"Southeast is really trying to promote international exchange," Christensen said.

He said he likes to perform in smaller ensembles. He loves symphonic music, but chamber music gives him "more focus."

"You're really communicating, not just with the audience, but with the other musicians," Christensen said. "It's like you're having a conversation, but you're using music rather than words."

Southeast student Chelsea Garrett, a fan of the violin, says she is impressed with Christensen.

"You can tell he really has a gift and passion for it," Garrett said.