He currently serves as the David and Janet McCue music director of the Kendall Square Orchestra, where he actively collaborates with professionals from the science and technology sectors.
His dedication extends beyond performance and education into significant community service, exemplified by his involvement in founding and directing initiatives that address social issues through the arts.
[3] Before their immigration to the United States, Kristo Kondakçi’s family endured severe persecution under the Albanian Communist regime led by Enver Hoxha in the mid-20th century.
[10] In a turn of fate, Beqir Omari immigrated to the United States, where he played a pivotal role in raising Kristo and his brother, Gramoz Kondakçi.
[3] At the age of fifteen, Kondakçi enrolled into the New England Conservatory preparatory division,[3] studying piano with Tatyana Dudochkin,[12] composition with Rodney Lister, conducting with Courtney Lewis.
In 2014, while Kondakçi was pursuing his master's degree in conducting at New England Conservatory, he received an invitation from the National Theatre of Opera and Ballet of Albania (T.K.O.B.)
[22] In 2017, Kondakçi partnered with cellist Alan Toda-Ambaras to found the Eureka Ensemble, a professional orchestra based in Boston, dedicated to nurturing social impact through music.
[23] Since its founding, the ensemble has partnered with acclaimed artists such as violist Kim Kashkashian[24] and violinist Midori,[25] among others, to engage in community-intensive programming focusing on underserved communities and the issues they face, such as immigrant and refugee youth and those impacted by homelessness.
[26] In April 2018, Kondakçi was engaged by a global pharmaceutical company to help launch an orchestra for the life sciences and technology community in Kendall Square, Cambridge, MA.
[32] The project gained significant public attention, highlighted by a feature in a NowThis News video that has amassed over 3 million views on social media, effectively raising awareness about the issues the initiative seeks to address.
[33] Building upon the success and public engagement of the Sheltering Voices Initiative, Kristo Kondakçi, in collaboration with entrepreneur David McCue, co-founded the Women's Chorus later in 2018.
Since its inception, the chorus has served a diverse group of more than 150 women aged 17 to 82, enhancing their well-being and providing a creative outlet for expression and healing.
"Desea Soñar is a year-long program that teaches students how to engage with their community through songwriting and to instill self-confidence through proficiency in an instrument and participation in a musical ensemble.
The musical program utilizes cultural exploration and social-emotional skill building to help students reflect on their journeys and connect to peers with similar experiences".
[40] In 2019, Kristo Kondakçi led an innovative cultural adaptation of George Frideric Handel's famed oratorio, Messiah, by spearheading its transcription into Spanish with the collaboration of the Eureka Ensemble team.
This groundbreaking project not only translated the text but also reimagined the iconic work to resonate deeply with Latinx audiences, reflecting Kondakçi’s commitment to making classical music accessible and relevant to diverse communities.
In 2020, due to the lockdowns during the COVID-19 Pandemic, Symphony for Science took place virtually to benefit Next Step, a Cambridge community organization that "provides programming for young individuals (age 14-29) managing life-threatening illnesses including rare genetic diseases, cancer and HIV.
[51][52] The BHM team also created a program in partnership with Massachusetts General Hospital, New England Conservatory, and the Eureka Ensemble to focus on the growing needs of frontline healthcare workers by connecting them private lessons on instruments of their choice as well as songwriting workshops.
[56] In 2020, Kristo Kondakçi spearheaded "Rising Tides," an initiative led by Eureka Ensemble that sought to illuminate the local impacts of climate change in New England through a series of performances and educational programs.
With oversight and guidance by New England Conservatory professor Katarina Markovic and conductor Hugh Wolff, Kondakçi reconstructed a performing edition of the earliest version of Mahler's Symphony No.
[62] The New England Conservatory Philharmonia performed this version in September 2011 under conductor Hugh Wolff to mark a semester long school festival around Mahler's music.