Cristina Braga is a Brazilian

harpist The harp is a stringed musical instrument that has individual string (music), strings running at an angle to its sound board (music), soundboard; the strings are plucked with the fingers. Harps can be made and played in various ways, standing ...

. Working with various styles of both classical and popular music, she has released fourteen recorded works, two of them also released in the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

, one released in

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

, and one in

Korea Korea is a peninsular region in East Asia consisting of the Korean Peninsula, Jeju Island, and smaller islands. Since the end of World War II in 1945, it has been politically Division of Korea, divided at or near the 38th parallel north, 3 ...

. She also performs regularly as soloist with many Symphony Orchestras, has won several prizes and is currently principal harpist at the Theatro Municipal do Rio de Janeiro Symphony Orchestra, as well as teacher at the School of Music at the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro. From 1990 until 1993 she was a member of the Board of Directors of the

World Harp Congress The World Harp Congress is a private nonprofit organization founded in 1981 as an outgrowth of the International Harp Weeks held in The Netherlands for twenty years under the leadership of Phia Berghout and Maria Korchinska. The organization h ...

, and made several tours of Europe along with concerts in

Israel Israel, officially the State of Israel, is a country in West Asia. It Borders of Israel, shares borders with Lebanon to the north, Syria to the north-east, Jordan to the east, Egypt to the south-west, and the Mediterranean Sea to the west. Isr ...

and USA. She studied with Acácia Brazil at the

Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro The Federal University of Rio de Janeiro (, UFRJ) is a public research university in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. It is the largest federal university in the country and is one of the Brazilian centers of excellence in teaching and research. Brazil's ...

, where she graduated with a Gold Medal Award. She also studied with

Susann McDonald Susann Hackett McDonald (May 26, 1935 – May 29, 2025) was an American classical harpist. In addition to a successful performing career, she made a number of recordings and held significant academic and organizational posts. As head of the har ...

Indiana University Bloomington Indiana University Bloomington (IU Bloomington, Indiana University, IU, IUB, or Indiana) is a public university, public research university in Bloomington, Indiana, United States. It is the flagship university, flagship campus of Indiana Univer ...

. In 2002 she was re-elected as director of the WHC-Geneva, organizing a workshop on Brazilian rhythms on the harp and performing in a show at the prestigious Victoria Hall. She also performed in

Zurich Zurich (; ) is the list of cities in Switzerland, largest city in Switzerland and the capital of the canton of Zurich. It is in north-central Switzerland, at the northwestern tip of Lake Zurich. , the municipality had 448,664 inhabitants. The ...

and

Montreux Montreux (, ; ; ) is a Municipalities of Switzerland, Swiss municipality and List of towns in Switzerland, town on the shoreline of Lake Geneva at the foot of the Swiss Alps, Alps. It belongs to the Riviera-Pays-d'Enhaut (district), Riviera-Pays ...

. She was the first harpist from Latin America to teach and perform at the Munique Music School, and at the

Mozarteum Mozarteum University Salzburg ( German: ''Universität Mozarteum Salzburg'') is one of three affiliated but separate (it is actually a state university) entities under the "Mozarteum" name in Salzburg municipality; the International Mozarteu ...

Salzburg Salzburg is the List of cities and towns in Austria, fourth-largest city in Austria. In 2020 its population was 156,852. The city lies on the Salzach, Salzach River, near the border with Germany and at the foot of the Austrian Alps, Alps moun ...

, invited by Professor Helga Storck. In Brazil, she was the first harpist to record a

Samba Samba () is a broad term for many of the rhythms that compose the better known Brazilian music genres that originated in the Afro-Brazilians, Afro Brazilian communities of Bahia in the late 19th century and early 20th century, It is a name or ...

CD in which the harp is responsible for the whole harmonic base. She also played with the rock band

Titãs Titãs (, Portuguese for Titans) are a Brazilian Rock music, rock band from São Paulo. Though they primarily are classified as a rock band, the band have also experimented with genres such as New wave music, new wave, punk rock, ska, grunge, M� ...

, in their successful unplugged live album. Since 2003 she has been the organizer of the "Festival Vale do Café", a festival of music, history and nature, in the mountains of the south of the state of Rio de Janeiro. In 2006 the festival included the 5th Latin-American Harp Festival, with musicians from all over Latin-America. Cristina has also performed with many leading Brazilian singers such as

Nara Leão Nara Lofego Leão (; January 19, 1942 – June 7, 1989) was a Brazilian bossa nova and MPB (popular Brazilian music) singer and occasional actress. Leão was married twice, to Ruy Guerra and subsequently Carlos Diegues, both film directors. ...

, Angela Maria, Peri Ribeiro, Moreira da Silva,

Zizi Possi Maria Izildinha "Zizi" Possi (, born March 28, 1956) is a Brazilian singer from São Paulo, the daughter of Italian immigrants. She sings in Portuguese, English, and Italian. In 2007, she sang at the opening of the Military World Games, alongside ...

and

Quarteto em Cy Quarteto em Cy (a play on words of the Portuguese for ''Quartet in B'' by poet and lyricist Vinícius de Moraes) was a Brazilian girl group originally composed of four sisters hailing from Ibirataia, a town located in the Brazilian state of Ba ...

, among others. In 2008 she released the CD Paisagem, a collaboration with American cellist

Eugene Friesen Eugene Friesen (born 1952) is an American cellist and composer. Early life Friesen was born in 1952 to Russian Mennonite parents. He is a graduate of the Yale School of Music. Career Friesen has been a member of the Paul Winter Consort since ...

, in which she interprets many of the most important songs of all time in the Brazilian Popular Repertoire. The CD was released by Biscoito Fino in Brasil and by Musimedi in Europe. In 2010 she released with

Enja Records Enja Records is a German jazz record company and label based in Munich which was founded by jazz enthusiasts Matthias Winckelmann and Horst Weber in 1971. The label's first release was by Mal Waldron, and early releases included European and Jap ...

the CD Harpa Bossa, in many concerts in

Europe Europe is a continent located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and Asia to the east ...

. She has already performed in many of the most prestigious Jazz Houses in Germany, including the Unterfahrt in Munich, the Birdland in Neuburg, the Jazztone in Loerach, the

B-flat B-flat or B may refer to: * B (musical note) * B major * B minor B minor is a minor scale based on B, consisting of the pitches B, C, D, E, F, G, and A. Its key signature has two sharps. Its relative major is D major and its parallel m ...

Berlin Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...

References

Place of birth missing (living people) Living people Brazilian classical harpists Women harpists Indiana University Bloomington alumni Federal University of Rio de Janeiro alumni Year of birth missing (living people) {{Brazil-musician-stub