Kristi Ballif teaches the flute studio at Idaho State University and performs as Principal Flute with the Idaho State Civic Symphony. She also teaches Flute Ensemble, Elementary Music Methods, and Music and the Humanities at Brigham Young University-Idaho. Prior to moving to Idaho, Kristi taught the flute studio at Colorado Mesa University and played with the Grand Junction Symphony Orchestra and the Western Colorado Flute Choir. As a performer, Kristi won the National Flute Association Convention Performer's Competition in 2012 and 2019 and has been a guest for the Music at Temple Square Concert Series and the Mormon Tabernacle Choir. She and her clarinetist husband have also performed together at the National Flute Association Convention, as well as the International Clarinet Association Clarinetfest. As a clinician, she has presented for the National Flute Association Convention, the Colorado Flute Association, the Colorado Music Educator’s Association Convention, and the Gateway Canyons Lecture Series. In addition to her classical flute studies, Kristi enjoys playing the Irish flute and Highland Bagpipes.

Kristi earned a Bachelor of Music degree in flute performance from Brigham Young University in Provo, where she studied with Elizabeth Weissman. She then earned her Master of Music degree in flute performance from Arizona State University, studying with Trygve Peterson and Liz Buck. She is also certificated in the Kodály Method of teaching from the Organization of American Kodály Educators.

In her spare time, Kristi enjoys spending time in various art mediums, but especially in photography. She holds a Bachelor of Arts with an emphasis in photography from Brigham Young University-Idaho.