Dr. Christina Giacona is the co-founder of Onyx Lane, where she works as a music producer, session conductor, artistic director and score supervisor. When she is not in the studio, Dr. Giacona is a Lecturer on Commercial and American Music for the OU School of Music and affiliate faculty for the OU Arts Management and Entrepreneurship graduate program.
Did you always want a career in the music industry?
Yes, I’ve always wanted to be a musician and music producer.
How did you get started?
I was told that my first musical experiences were in a crib listening to the L.A. Phil backstage. My mom worked for the L.A. Phil as a bookkeeper and my dad was a projectionist. My first babysitter was the movie theatre – I could have unlimited popcorn and lemonade during my dad’s shift and watch as many movies as I wanted, but no soda or candy because we had to pay for those.
The first recordings I ever made were on a TASCAM 4-track cassette recorder when I was in middle school and high school, and I’d write, record and mix my own songs in Castaic, California, on the street Onyx Lane (which later became the name of my music production company). I’m a clarinetist, and won first chair in the California All-State competition as a freshmen in high school, but my real love was really recording and producing my own music. I wanted to make music like the Beatles, Paul Simon and Janis Joplin.
I started my college career as a music industry major at Cal State Northridge, but I got offered a full-ride scholarship if I switched to being a performance major on clarinet. This kicked off my college career, and I went on to get a masters and doctorate in clarinet performance and do all the things a good classical clarinetist does (playing concertos with orchestras, and doing orchestra, band and chamber music concerts all over the world).
While I was working on my doctorate, I started the Los Angeles New Music Ensemble, a chamber group that ran from 2008 to 2014 and premiered a ton of new works and put on a bunch of collaborative concerts and recordings. Those experiences taught me how to put together shows and tours, make professional recordings and orchestrate & produce albums & film scores.
What are your most recent successes / placements / accomplishments / projects and or career highlights?
It’s been a really fantastic (and busy!) year so far. I just got back from the album release party and ALS-Fundraiser in Los Angeles for the album Impossible Dream, which charted Billboard #2 for Classical Crossover, that I helped produce and engineer for the incredible Broadway artist Aaron Lazar. In addition to conducting and producing the orchestral sessions with the Onyx Lane Chamber Orchestra, I got to work with an all-star cast of musicians on this album, including Josh Groban, Neil Patrick Harris, Leslie Odom, Jr., Kate Baldwin, Loren Allred, Kelli O’Hara, Norm Lewis, Sting, Lin-Manuel Miranda, Kristin Chenoweth, Liz Callaway, Brian Stokes Mitchell, Shoshana Bean, Joanna Gleason, Brian d’Arcy James and Adrienne Warren.
At the same time, we were recording, mixing and mastering an amazing choral and orchestra album for the outrageously talented Norman-based composer Patti Drennan with Sterling Ensemble, Los Angeles and Michelle Jensen, also featuring the Onyx Lane Chamber Orchestra (which we just found out charted #1 on the Billboard Traditional Classical chart!).
We also just released a beautiful chamber music album on our record label, Onyx Lane Records, with our dear friend cellist Tess Remy-Schumacher, and, at the beginning of the year, Celtic Woman’s 20th anniversary album came out – for that one I contracted the musicians and helped conduct and produce the orchestral sessions with film composer Brian Byrne. Last year we had the privilege of being part of the team (along with Tess!) for the Grammy®-Nominated New Age Album Aquamarine by Kirsten Agresta-Copely.
What is your favorite Oklahoma music venue, music store or recording studio?
As a producer who specializes in classical, jazz and large film score recordings, a lot of the time we’re building a studio on-location in a concert hall just so we have a space that’s big enough to fit everyone! Some of my favorite halls to record in here in Oklahoma are Pittman and Sharp Halls in the OU School of Music, the Civic Center Music Hall and Oklahoma City Community College’s VPAC. I’ve also gotten to record at the soundstages at Filmmaker’s Ranch and Prairie Surf Studios, and the new Oklahoma Contemporary Te Ata Theatre actually has a really beautiful reverb tail for medium size ensembles.
Networking and connecting with others who share your dream or vision is a vital aspect to the music industry. Can you share which Oklahoma organizations (if any) have contributed to your success and are there Oklahoma organization you would recommend others connect with to help further their craft or promotion?
It’s impossible to work in the music industry without collaboration. Some of the incredible organizations that I’ve had the chance to work with include the Oklahoma City Philharmonic with Alexander Mickelthwate, RACE Dance Collective with Hui Cha Poos, OU Wind Symphony with Shanti Simon, Oklahoma Contemporary and so many more. My career is built off of the friendships I’ve built with these people, and we’re constantly working together to showcase the unbelievable talent we have here in Oklahoma.
Also, the Recording Academy, the Oklahoma Film and Music Office, OKC Film & Creative Industries, and Tulsa Office of Film, Music, Arts & Culture all do an amazing job creating networking opportunities throughout the year. The Oklahoma Film and Music Office sponsors the Resonance Series, which I help curate with Eric Walschap, where we bring in world-renown music professionals to Oklahoma.
Can you share some advice for someone interested in working in the music industry?
If you’re a woman in this industry you need to make sure you’re standing up for yourself and getting the credits that you deserve for the work that you do. So many times in the past I’ve worked on projects where I either didn’t get the credits that I was promised or my role was diminished once the credits were finalized. This is actually way worse when I work in major markets like Los Angeles and New York rather than here in OKC, and that’s something we can really use to differentiate ourselves from the bigger markets.
What are some of the benefits of having a music career in Oklahoma?
The connections and support I have here are really incredible. It’s a smaller market here than when I was in Los Angeles, but it’s a super tight-knit community, our musicians are world class and it’s also really supportive. Because it’s not so cut throat here, it gives me the freedom to experiment and be creative.
Art is about taking risks, and if you don’t feel safe taking risks you’ll always be compromising you vision.
Also I own my house, recording studio and record label and they’re all paid off and debt-free. That is not something I ever imagined as a financial possibility when I lived in California.
Favorite quote and why?
“You don’t know what you don’t know until you know it!” – my clarinet professor David Etheridge.
‘Cause it’s true! When you’re younger you think you know everything, and it puts you in a position where you’re judging everyone severely and unjustly. But as soon as you actually get expertise in a subject matter, you really learn that everyone – no matter how famous or brilliant – doesn’t have all answers and is just trying their best based on their own circumstances. When I actually learned how hard it is to consistently make great art it really changed how I viewed the world.
What are you working on now or next?
We’ve got 11 albums and three films we’re currently working on in various stages. One that I’m really proud of is a string orchestra recording I co-composed, engineered, co-conducted and produced with my partner Patrick Conlon, conductor Jeff Grogan and the Onyx Lane Chamber Orchestra called In The Waiting Room. We just finished the Atmos mix of this and are submitting it to our distributor Naxos of America here later this month.
Today I dropped off visa documents for a trip to Bangladesh and Sri Lanka I’m doing in January as part of a business leader exchange program, so we’re trying to get all our projects into a good place over the next three months so we can be on the other side of the world for two and a half weeks. We’ve also got a potential orchestra recording in Poland in March, which would be a ton of fun in a beautiful venue. I’m also excited to share that in Summer 2025, I’ll be launching Rude Boob, a lifestyle brand for women who are going through breast cancer diagnosis, treatment or are in recovery. This brand is all about creating a space where we can come together, support each other and embrace our journeys with strength and style.
Where can people keep up with you and your work?
Instagram: @christinagiacona and @onyx.lane
Website: onyxlane.com
Each featured individual or business is given the provided questions to answer in their own voice. Other than formatting and grammar, the answers are personal to each featured voice, and are not provided by the Oklahoma Film + Music Office.