Anastasia is a sought-after performer and educator, she is currently Assistant Professor of Clarinet at Furman University, in Greenville, SC. She has held positions with Sistema Ravinia in Illinois and the InterHarmony International Music Festival in Italy. Most recently, Anastasia has taken on the role of Coordinator of the Chamber Music Intensive at the New England Music Camp, hosted at the Snow Pond Center for the Arts in Sidney, Maine.
Outside of her teaching schedule, Anastasia enjoys collaborating with others to expand the scope and diversity of new music, as well as its accessibility. Along with Meraki Duo co-founder Elizabeth G. Hill (piano), Anastasia was awarded a 2018 grant from Chamber Music America to collaborate with composer Jerod Impichchaachaaha’ Tate. The subsequent work, Heloha Okchamali (Blue Thunder), premiered at the New Music DC Conference, in Washington, D.C. Meraki released their first album, Within, in December of 2022.
Anastasia also performs and serves as the Vice President of Education and Community Outreach of What Is Noise - an award-winning Pierrot ensemble made up of musicians from around the world. A non-profit organization, What Is Noise focuses its mission on building community through music. Under Anastasia’s direction, What Is Noise has been invited for residencies across the United States, including Berklee College of Music in Boston, Massachusetts and the Parish School in Houston, Texas, where the group works with neurodivergent students to expand their access to new music. The ensemble released their first album, Equivocal Duration in 2019 under Centaur Records. They will hit the studio again during the summer of 2024 to record their second album, which is being supported by funding from Furman University and the South Carolina Arts Commission.
Thanks to a generous grant from the Presser Foundation in 2014, Anastasia and traveled to Armenia where she explored music of the Armenian genocide and studied the duduk with Gevorg Dabaghyan at Yerevan State Conservatory. The findings from her project - 2,000 years of history, 100 years of survival: Armenia, the story of a people through their music - has been presented at universities across the United States as well as the International Clarinet Association’s Annual Conference in Knoxville, Tennessee, and published in The Clarinet.
Anastasia received her DM in clarinet performance from the Florida State University, her MM in clarinet performance from the Roosevelt University Chicago College of Performing Arts, and her BM in music education from James Madison University. Her principal teachers include Gregory Smith (Chicago Symphony Orchestra), Frank Kowalsky and Deborah Bish (FSU), Carolee Smith (Roosevelt University), and Janice L. Minor (JMU). She is a Royal Global Performance Artist and performs on Firebird clarinets and Brian Corbin clarinet products.
Anastasia has performed around the world, but only buys bagels in her hometown of Syosset, New York. When she is not making music, she and her husband are likely playing frisbee with their dog Cheerio or continuing in their quest to find the best pizza in town.
Media
Kinan Azmeh - The Fence, The Rooftop, and The Distant Sea (2017)
Anastasia Christofakis, clarinet and Justin Page, cello
Furman University, Greenville, SC
January 2021
Béla Kovács - Hommage à Manuel de Falla
Anastasia Christofakis, clarinet
Mount St. Mary's University,
Emmitsburg, Maryland
March 2018
Johannes Brahms: Trio in A minor, Op. 114
II - Adagio
Anastasia Christofakis, clarinet
Justin Page, cello
Elizabeth G. Hill, piano
Alexandria, VA
February 2018
Aram Khachaturian: Trio for clarinet, violin, and piano
I - Andante con dolore
Anastasia Christofakis, clarinet
Jennifer George, violin
Elizabeth G. Hill, piano
Florida State University
April 2015
Mandat: Tricolor capers
II - Sway
Anastasia Christofakis, clarinet
Penn State Single Reed Day, February 2016
Schumann: Fantasiestücke für Klarinette und Piano Op. 73
III - Rasch und mit Feuer
Anastasia Christofakis, clarinet
Elizabeth G. Hill, piano
April 2018
Gallery
