Christina Schoonakker is a Dutch/South African violist who grew up in the UK, studying as a music scholar at Wells Cathedral school.
She currently works with the Netherlands Philharmonic Orchestra in Amsterdam, since January 2025. Previously she played with the Helsinki Chamber Orchestra as principal viola, Finnish National Opera and Ostrobothnian chamber orchestra.
She obtained her Master’s degree from the Sibelius Academy in Helsinki studying with Atte Kilpeläinen, Hanna Pakkala and Lilli Maijala, and her Bachelor degree from The Royal Conservatoire in The Hague with Asdis Valdimarsdottir. She has received ongoing coaching and mentoring from Sophia Rahman since 2021
Christina has studied Early Music with Walter Reiter, and performs on historical violin and viola alongside modern. She was also mentored in free improvisation by members of the Instant Composers through participation in the Dutch improvisation academy in 2020. Later the same year, she represented her conservatoire at the METRIC European improvisation conference.
Christina enjoys collaborating across all art forms, and took part in the international poetry festival Rotterdam 2019 working with South African writer Antjie Krog. Christina also creates visual art and exhibited her work alongside friend and colleague Dave Edward, formerly Shaw as part of the 2023 Whittington Festival.