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Christy Klenke joined the Washington National Opera as Assistant Principal Horn in 2023. Previously she spent fourteen years in the nation’s premier military bands, having served for nine years in the United States Army Band “Pershing’s Own” and five years in the United States Army Field Band. She has performed throughout Washington D.C. at prestigious locations such as the White House, the U.S. Capitol, Arlington National Cemetery and the Pentagon, and toured extensively throughout the United States in concert band, chamber ensemble and solo settings.  Christy has also performed as a guest with the Wolf Trap Orchestra, the Annapolis Symphony Orchestra, the Maryland Symphony Orchestra, the Rhode Island Philharmonic, the Portland Symphony Orchestra and the New World Symphony.

A native of Central Pennsylvania, Christy began playing the horn at age nine and counts her father, a trombonist, as one of her first teachers. She attended Duquesne University, Yale University and the Peabody Conservatory of Music and has studied horn with Zachary Smith, William Caballero, William Purvis and Denise Tryon. She spent summers with the National Repertory Orchestra and at the Brevard Music Center where she won the Jan and Beattie Wood Concerto Competition. In addition to her accomplishments on the horn, Christy holds a Bachelor of Science in Music Therapy with a minor in Psychology, is a Board-Certified Music Therapist, and enjoys using those skills through educational outreach and community engagement.