Colin McAllister is Director of Humanities and an Assistant Professor in the Department of Visual and Performing Arts at the University of Colorado Colorado Springs. His performances as a guitarist and conductor have been hailed as ‘sparkling….delivered superbly’ (San Francisco Chronicle), ‘ravishing’ (San Diego Union Tribune) and ‘an amazing tour de force’ (San Diego Story), and he has recorded on the MicroFest, Summit, Innova, Centaur, Naxos, Albany, Old King Cole, Vienna Modern Masters, Carrier, and Tzadik labels. Colin earned both the M.A. and D.M.A. at the University of California, San Diego, where he studied guitar with Los Romeros and Stuart Fox, interpretation with Bertram Turetzky, and conducting with Harvey Sollberger and Rand Steiger.
Colin is the guitarist and conductor for the ensemble NOISE, and a co-founder of the soundON Festival, held annually in La Jolla, California. He performs regularly with both the Hennessy 6 jazz sextet and his own quartet. As a guest artist, he appears regularly with the Colorado Springs Philharmonic, the Chamber Orchestra of the Springs, and the Playground Ensemble. He is the author of two best-selling guitar instructional series, produced by The Great Courses—Learning to Play Guitar, and Playing Guitar Like a Pro. Colin is endorsed by PRS Guitars and is an Artist Partner with Taylor Guitars.