Cristina began her violin studies in her hometown, Ravenna, and, later, in Bologna and Milan, with Carlo de Martini. She then studied in Lyon with Marie-Annick Nicolas. She studied baroque violin with Enrico Onofri.

Throughout her studies, she showed a strong interest in the performing practices of classical and baroque music and began to collaborate with groups specialized in this repertoire. Since 1990 she has been a permanent member of the ensemble Il Giardino Armonico, with whom she regularly performs in the most important rooms in the world, alongside great artists such as Viktoria Mullova, Cecilia Bartoli, Katia and Marielle Labèque, Enrico Onofri, Giovanni Antonini, Isabel Faust, Sol Gabetta, Giovanni Sollima, Julia Lezhneva, Anna Prohaska, etc.

She collaborated with several groups such as Ensemble Baroque de Limoges, Wiener Akademie, Elyma, Accademia Montis Regalis, Le Concert d’Astrée, Ensemble Matheus, Balthasar Neumann Ensemble, Il Pomo d’Oro, La Fenice, Le Musiche Nove, Divino Sospiro, etc.. She recorded for the labels Teldec, Decca, Naïve, Nichion, Zig Zag Territoires, Hyperion, Dynamic, Harmonia Mundi, Alpha Classic, Passacaille, and for the main radio and television stations in Europe, USA, Canada, Australia and Japan.

Since 2016 collaborates with Accademia Bizantina and is a member of the Imaginarium Ensemble.