Originally from Aberystwyth, Chrissie studied music for seven years in London; first with a Government scholarship to the Purcell School and then at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama, leading various ensembles, including the Purcell Chamber Orchestra for the London Haydn Festival and the Buckingham Palace Investiture Orchestra. After graduating in 2002 with a BMus from the Guildhall, Chrissie won a scholarship to the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama, graduating with a MMus in 2003, with distinction in performance.

Chrissie has been awarded a number of prizes and awards including: Cavatina Chamber Music Prize, Philippa Yardley Award from the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama, Haydn Davies Prize from the National Youth Orchestra of Wales, first prize in the National Eisteddfod and Junior Fellow in Chamber Music at RWCMD. In 2010, Chrissie was awarded a Junior Fellowship in Orchestral Leadership from the RWCMD, which is supported by the Sir Charles Mackerras scholarship and mentored by John Stein.

As first violinist of the Mavron Quartet, Chrissie has played for many members of the royal family, including the Queen and Prince Charles; also for former PM Gordon Brown, the American Ambassador, Catherine Zeta Jones and Michael Douglas. Venues include Buckingham Palace, Windsor Castle, the Foreign Office and Winfield House, London. Recent performances abroad with the Mavron Quartet have taken Chrissie to Italy, Brussels, Romania and Holland.

Freelancing as a violinist, she’s worked with many major artists. They include Kanye West for his Late Registration and Graduation UK Tours, as well as for the 2006 Brit Awards at Earls Court and shows at the Hammersmith Apollo Theatre (this involved recordings at 3 Mills and Abbey Road Studios); Katherine Jenkins on her Living A Dream, Serenade, Rejoice and Sacred Arias Tours; and Russell Watson on his recent Outside In Tour. Enjoying multimedia projects, in 2009 Chrissie collaborated and performed Steve Reich’s Four Violin Phase with the National Dance Company Wales at the Wales Millennium Centre.

Chrissie works as an extra player for the orchestra of Welsh National Opera. She’s played in WNO productions of Puccini’s Madam Butterfly, Mussorgsky’s Khovanshchina, Verdi’s Il Trovador, Verdi’s Otello, Janacek’s Jenůfa, Puccini’s La Bohemè, Bizet’s Carmen, Mozart’s Magic Flute, Cardiff Singer of the World Competitions for the BBC and James McMillan’s premier of The Sacrifice conducted by James McMillan. Recent productions include Wagner’s Die Meistersingers von Nurnberg, resulting in a performance at the Royal Albert Hall for the BBC Proms 2010, and Strauss’ Die Fledermaus.