Born in Co. Offaly, Ireland, Christiane originally pursued a career in psychology, graduating from Trinity College with a first class honours degree. Whilst at Trinity, she won several academic awards including Entrance Exhibition (for receiving 600 points in her Leaving Cert) and the Forrestor Prize for highest mark in her final year thesis. She was also elected a Foundation Scholar of the college. She studied voice, harp and piano from a young age and whilst at university, she performed and competed regularly as a solo, chamber and orchestral musician throughout Ireland and abroad.

Upon graduating, she pursued music full time, graduating with a first class honours from the fulltime Diploma Mus programme at the Royal Irish Academy of Music, working as resident harpist in the Four Seasons, touring Europe with the National Youth Symphony Orchestra of Ireland and winning several awards at various competitions including Dublin's Feis Ceoil. For more about Christiane's music work, please click here.

She then trained professionally as an actor under scholarship at the Beckett Centre, Trinity College. For more about Christiane's acting work, click here.

Christiane is interested in overseas development and has taught in schools in Kolkatta, India and Nairobi, Kenya. She has worked with the Irish NGO Suas for the last few years. She was the executive producer of the Kakali CD project, an album of Christmas songs sung by Kenyan school children, which was sold throughout Ireland last Christmas, raising 20, 000 euro for Gatoto Primary School in Nairobi, Kenya. She was shortlisted for the Ireland Involved Award in 2008.