Christine Breeden is a Chicago-based bassoonist and contrabassoonist whose work centers orchestral performance, chamber music, and contemporary composer collaboration. She is Second Bassoon with the Great Falls Symphony in Montana and an Associate Member of the Civic Orchestra of Chicago, and freelances throughout the Midwest. She also maintains a private teaching studio, serves as Instructor of Bassoon at South Suburban College, and works as Executive Assistant for the International Double Reed Society.

An avid chamber musician and advocate for new music, Christine is a founding member of Mosaic Winds, a Chicago-based woodwind quartet, and a member of Sapphire Woodwind Quintet, continuing their 20-year legacy as Chicago’s premier all-female woodwind quintet. During her time at the University of Michigan, she co-founded \newline, a quartet for bassoon, saxophone, piano, and percussion dedicated to expanding the chamber canon and challenging traditional instrumentation.  \newline was awarded the 2023 Arts@Michigan Arts and Resistance Student Mini-Grant to fund Our Trace, a project that commissioned, presented, and recorded student compositions that told stories of personal experiences with climate change. Further contemporary music collaborations have included performances and recordings with the Illinois Modern Ensemble and Michigan’s Contemporary Directions Ensemble.

As a soloist, Christine won the 2021 Thomas J. Smith Solo Competition at the University of Illinois performing Weber’s Concerto in F major, Op. 75.  She was also a featured soloist on Dai Fujikura’s Mina, performing with the University of Michigan Philharmonia Orchestra.  In 2022, she was honored to perform during the wreath-laying at the 2022 Pulse Nightclub Memorial in Bloomington, Illinois.

Christine holds a Master of Music in Bassoon Performance from the University of Michigan School of Music, Theatre & Dance, where she studied with Dr. Jeffrey Lyman, and a Bachelor of Music from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign under the teaching of Timothy McGovern. Her festival appearances include the Madeline Island Chamber Music Festival and Chicago Summer Opera.

Beyond performance, Christine advocates for greater equity and accessibility in the arts. Her work in these areas has included commissioning composers of underrepresented identities, bringing performances to unconventional spaces, and developing professional resources that promote antiracism in arts administration. She has also partnered with the Arts Administrators of Color Network on initiatives that support equitable representation across all levels of arts organizations. Across her work as a performer, educator, and arts administrator, Christine is dedicated to cultivating a more inclusive and impactful classical music community.