Christian Gonzales

Christian Gonzales is establishing himself as one of San Diego’s finest young violinists and violin teachers. A graduate of Juilliard and UCLA, Gonzales has performed throughout the United States internationally in Mexico, Canada, and Spain. He is also the owner of the Christian Gonzales Violin Studio LLC.

Named the winner of the 2022 Atwater Kent Concerto Competition, Gonzales was briefly loaned the 1732 Duke of Alcantara Stradivarius. He was also a finalist in the 2025 Agustín Aponte International Music Competition and prizewinner of several other competitions.

Gonzales has appeared as a soloist with several orchestras including the Cabrillo Chamber Orchestra, Cuyamaca Chamber Orchestra, and the UCLA Symphony. As a recitalist, he has played for venues such as the Da Camera Society, La Jolla Music Society, Tanglewood Music Festival, Juilliard ChamberFest, Domaine Forget, Festival del Lago, and Musical Festival Tenerife. Gonzales has collaborated with renowned artists and composers and has premiered several works including his original cadenzas and arrangements in public.As an orchestral musician, Gonzales has played with numerous groups including the New World Symphony and side-by-side with the New York Philharmonic. He was a concertmaster at Tanglewood and UCLA and associate concertmaster at Juilliard.

Gonzales is also developing a reputation as a rising violin teacher in San Diego. He has given masterclasses across Southern California and is developing his Violin Technique five-volume book series.

A native of El Cajon, California, Gonzales started the violin at the age of ten. His teachers were Areta Zhulla, Movses Pogossian, Varty Manouelian, Alexander Palamidis, Travis Maril, and Shirley Stafford.Outside of music, Gonzales is a retired competitive wushu practitioner, having been a member of the USA Traditional Wushu Team and assistant coach of UCLA Wushu.