Jay Christy began studying the violin at the age of three in the Washington D.C. area with his mother Nancy.  His other teachers include John Merrill of the Baltimore Symphony and Lev Gurevich of the Florida Symphony.  Jay received his Bachelor of Music degree from The Cleveland Institute of Music as a student of David Cerone, David Updegraff, Victor Danchenko, and Eugene Gratovich.  He received a Master of Music degree from Indiana University as a student of Franco Gulli.  Jay is in his thirteenth season with the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra, and in 2002 was named Assistant Principal Second.  He is also assistant concertmaster of the American Sinfonietta in Bellingham, Washington. Jay has performed with the Georgian Chamber Players at Spivey Hall, is a frequent guest of the Emory Chamber Music Society, and has performed with Thamyris, a contemporary music ensemble.  He is an active violin teacher and coach in the metropolitan Atlanta area, is an Artist Affiliate at Emory University, is on the faculty of Reinhardt College, and is an adjunct faculty member at Covenant College in Chattanooga, Tennessee.  He just completed his first chamber music recording, a collection of oboe quartets recorded with his two sisters and brother-in-law, who are also professional musicians.  Jay has appeared as soloist with the Walton High School Orchestra on an Austrian tour, the Rome Symphony, the  Florida Space Coast Philharmonic, the Florida Symphony Orchestra under Alfred Savia, and the Melbourne Community Orchestra.  He also soloed with the National Repertory Orchestra under Otto Werner Mueller, the Cleveland Institute of Music Orchestra under Louis Lane, the Ohio Ballet Orchestra, and the Congress of Strings Orchestra in a double concerto with Joseph Silverstein.