Noted for her “beautiful tone and vibrato,” Kristen Holritz makes her home on stage as a remarkably versatile flutist. Ms. Holritz made her solo debut with the United States Air Force Band in 2005 as winner of the Colonel George S. Howard Young Artist Competition. In 2008 she soloed with the University of North Carolina School of the Arts Symphony Orchestra, and in spring of 2013 was featured as a concerto competition winner with the University of Georgia Symphony Orchestra, winner of the Atlanta Flute Club Young Artist Competition and received third prize in the MidSouth Flute Festival Young Artist Competition. Previous orchestral summer engagements have included the Festival Institute at Round Top, the MasterWorks Festival and National Music Festival.

In the fall of 2013 Ms. Holritz was pleased to accept the Principal Flute position with the Chattanooga Symphony and Opera. In addition to her orchestral responsibilities, she appears with the Chattanooga Symphony Wind Quintet in schools across Tennessee, Georgia and Alabama in effort to engage and enrich the community through music. Freelancing engagements include substituting with the Nashville Symphony, Nashville Opera, Alabama Symphony,  Knoxville Symphony, and Iris Orchestra. Ms. Holritz also performs extensively with Schaafritz, a duo with her husband violinist Josh Holritz. Schaafritz has performed across the United States and went on tour to Japan twice with musicians from The Juilliard School.

Equally invested as a teacher, Ms. Holritz served as Adjunct Flute Professor at Truett-McConnell College from 2012-2014. She currently teaches privately out of her home and is Adjunct Flute Professor at both Lee University and Southern Adventist University. She has been a Faculty Artist for the Bay View Music Festival since 2017.

Kristen Holritz holds a Bachelors Degree in Flute Performance from the University of North Carolina School of the Arts and a Masters Degree in Flute Performance from The Juilliard School. Her primary teachers include Tadeu Coelho, Robert Langevin and Angela Jones-Reus, with additional study with Gretchen Pusch and Carol Wincenc.

Originally from Round Rock, TX, Kristen began taking piano lessons from her Mother when she turned four years old. With two older brothers, she was always looking up to them and striving to be more like them. So when they both reached middle school and began playing secondary instruments, Kristen begged her Mom to learn one as well! Luckily, her Mom had an old flute in her closet and explained that if Kristen could make a sound on it, then she could have the beginning flute book. So Kristen delightfully began playing flute when she was nine years old and hasn’t stopped since! While not playing the flute, you can find Kristen hiking, cycling, playing with her household of animals, or cooking and baking with her husband in the kitchen.