About Colin Davin
“Precision, musical intelligence and passion”
Guitarist Colin Davin has emerged as one of today’s most dynamic young artists. He has performed across the world from Carnegie Hall to the Alhambra Palace in Granada, Spain. He collaborates with some of the finest musicians in the world.
“Some of the finest interpretations I’ve heard… achingly beautiful… a thoughtful, perceptive interpretation, filled with details often missed.”
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. Performance highlights include a 2023 solo tour of Australia and New Zealand; concertos with the Pennsylvania Chamber Orchestra, Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra, Aiken Symphony Orchestra, New Mexico Philharmonic, Lake Placid Sinfonietta, and Richmond Symphony; collaborations with Sharon Isbin at the 92nd Street Y and Chautauqua Institution; and performances with violinist Tessa Lark and cellist Edward Arron.
In 2015, Davin appeared as a featured musical guest on the final season of The Late Show with David Letterman in duo with 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), the ELLNORA Festival, 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.
Davin’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…” (Soundboard Magazine).
An active player in the American contemporary music scene, he has performed with Contemporaneous, Talea Ensemble, Nu Deco Ensemble, 21st Century Consort, Present Music, Axiom, Aspen Contemporary Ensemble, ensemblenewSRQ, and Mimesis Ensemble. Davin has premiered dozens of new works, and continues to promote new repertoire for the guitar through commissioning, performance, and recording. He serves on the board for the Cleveland Uncommon Sound Project (CUSP), an organization dedicated to strengthening the artistic engagement of Northeast Ohio by championing the creation and performance of new music.
Colin Davin is the Director of Guitar Studio and Associate Professor of Guitar at Shenandoah Conservatory in Winchester, Virginia. He previously served as Co-Head of the guitar department at the Cleveland Institute of Music, and on the faculty of the Baldwin Wallace Conservatory. 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, Peabody Institute, Oberlin Conservatory, University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music, University of Western Australia, New Zealand School of Music-Te Kōkī, Arizona State University, Aspen Music Festival and School, and more. 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.
Colin Davin performs on a guitar by Joshia de Jonge and is an Augustine Strings artist.
Bach: Prelude from Cello Suite No.6
Live at the Milton and Tamar Maltz Performing Arts Center for the Cleveland Classical Guitar Society’s Showcase Concert
Davin-Levin Duo Performs Ravel
Les Entretiens de la Belle et de la Bête performed by Emily Levin and Colin Davin
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