Performer Biography

Colin Davin, guitar

Hailed as “the real thing, a player with a virtuoso’s technique, a deeply expressive musicianship, and a probing imagination” (American Record Guide) who “has the distinct ability to wring the depths of expressiveness from all that he plays” (Classical Guitar Magazine), and for his “precision, musical intelligence and passion” (Cleveland Classical), guitarist Colin Davin has emerged as one of today’s most dynamic artists. Recent highlights include concertos with the Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra, Aiken Symphony Orchestra, New Mexico Philharmonic, Lake Placid Sinfonietta, Lakeside Symphony Orchestra, Champaign-Urbana Symphony Orchestra, and Richmond Symphony; collaborations with Sharon Isbin at the 92nd Street Y, Chautauqua Institution, and Baltimore Classical Guitar Society; and performances with violinist Tessa Lark and cellist Edward Arron.

In 2015, Colin appeared as a featured musical guest on the final season of The Late Show with David Letterman alongside the late Jessye Norman. He has performed across the world, including at Carnegie Hall, Alice Tully Hall, the Metropolitan Museum of Art (on historic instruments from the museum’s collection), New York Philharmonic Ensembles, the ELLNORA Festival at the University of Illinois, the Alhambra Palace in Granada, the Paris Conservatoire, the Fridge Fringe in Dubai, and venues throughout the United States and Canada. His collaborators include GRAMMY Award winning soprano Estelí Gomez and Dallas Symphony Orchestra principal harpist Emily Levin. He has been a regular guest artist at the Aspen Music Festival, and has four times been a guest teacher at the Afghanistan National Institute of Music in Kabul, Afghanistan.

Colin’s solo recording, “The Infinite Fabric of Dreams” has been praised as “some of the finest interpretations I’ve heard…achingly beautiful…a thoughtful, perceptive interpretation, filled with details often missed” (American Record Guide) and “a first-rate disc…Davin knows the pieces deeply and delivers virtuosic and exciting performances…state of the art” (Soundboard Magazine).

An active player in the American contemporary music scene, he has performed with Contemporaneous, Talea Ensemble, Nu Deco Ensemble, Present Music, Axiom, Aspen Contemporary Ensemble, ensemblenewSRQ, and Mimesis Ensemble. Colin has premiered dozens of new works, and currently operates the Century Guitar Project, an initiative that promotes new repertoire for the guitar through commissioning, performance, and recording.

Colin Davin is co-head of the guitar department at the Cleveland Institute of Music. In demand for his insights in masterclasses and lectures, he has been invited to teach in a guest capacity at institutions including The Juilliard School, the Peabody Institute, Oberlin Conservatory, University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music, Arizona State University, and the Aspen Music Festival and School. He has won numerous prizes in international competitions and was a two-time finalist in the Guitar Foundation of America International Concert Artist Competition. He holds a Master of Music from The Juilliard School, where he studied with Sharon Isbin; a Bachelor of Music from the University of Southern California with William Kanengiser; and underwent preparatory studies at the Cleveland Institute of Music with Jason Vieaux.