Christine Jensen

Christine Jensen is a composer, conductor, and saxophonist based in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Jensen grew up in Nanaimo, British Columbia, with the likes of tenor saxophonist Phil Dwyer and pianist & vocalist Diana Krall, and she is the sister of trumpeter Ingrid Jensen. Christine Jensen has led a distinct voice to the creative jazz scene for the last twenty-five years with her large and small ensembles. In 2022, Jensen joined the Eastman faculty as professor of jazz studies, where she teaches jazz composition and arranging, along with directing the award-winning Eastman Jazz Ensemble. She continues to work between Montreal and New York, where she has previously been on faculty at McGill University, Purchase College (NY), University of Sherbrooke, and Université de Montreal. She is founding artistic director and conductor of the Canadian National Jazz Orchestra, as well as the past artistic director of Orchestre National Jazz de Montreal (ONJ). She was awarded the JUNO Award for Contemporary Jazz Album of the Year for her albums "Treelines" (2011) and "Habitat" (2014). She is nominated for a 2024 JUNO for her latest pandemic-inspired quartet album "Day Moon" (2023). In 2017, Jensen was awarded The Prix Oscar Peterson from the Montreal International Jazz Festival for her exceptional contributions to jazz in Canada. She has been honoured as a two-time recipient of SOCAN's Hagood Hardy Jazz Composer Award. Her suite "Under the Influence" also won the Prix Opus for jazz recording of the year in 2017. As a DownBeat Critic's Poll winner for Rising Star Big Band, Arranger, and Soprano Saxophonist, she is constantly in motion as an improviser, composer, and bandleader. "Habitat" received the coveted 5 stars in DownBeat, along with Jazz Album of the Year.

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