Chattanooga native Michael McCallie has distinguished himself as one of the most promising young performers and teachers working within the classical guitar community today. As a performer, Michael has garnered several awards including a prize in the 2004 Stetson University Concerto Competition and top prizes in both the Chattanooga, TN and Cleveland Young Artists’ Competitions. He has performed in concert halls throughout the United States, including Sprague Memorial Hall at Yale University, the Cohen-Davison Theatre at the Peabody Conservatory of Music, Dohnanyi Recital Hall at The Florida State University and has twice performed on the Guitar Sarasota Concert Series. In 2015, he shared the stage with The Chattanooga Symphony Orchestra where he was a featured soloist.
Michael holds a Master’s of Music in Guitar Performance from Yale University where he was the recipient of a full-tuition scholarship, as well as a Bachelor of Music from Stetson University. He has recently completed the Doctor of Music degree at Florida State University, where he was a scholarship student of the world-renowned pedagogue, Bruce Holzman. In 2004, Michael was one of fifteen young guitarists chosen from around the world to perform for acclaimed guitarist Manuel Barrueco in a week-long summer masterclass at the Peabody Conservatory of Music at Johns Hopkins University. Michael’s principal teachers include: Charles Evans, Dr. Stephen Robinson, Kevin Gallagher, Benjamin Verdery and Bruce Holzman.
In addition to his skill as a performer, Michael McCallie has earned a substantial reputation as a teacher of young children using the Suzuki Method. From 2006-2011, he transformed the fledgling guitar department at The Talent Education Suzuki School in Norwalk, CT from a studio of six students into one of the largest studios in the state of Connecticut. For his outstanding teaching at Talent Education Suzuki School, Michael was awarded two prestigious career development grants, for 2008 and 2009, from Home Box Office in New York City.
Michael’s students have received numerous accolades including top prizes in regional competitions, including The Tallahassee Bach Parley’s Kids Go For Baroque Youth Competition, and several have been selected performers at the Hartt School of Music’s Suzuki Institute. Several of Dr. McCallie’s students have been accepted into prestigious music schools around the country including The Mannes School of Music’s Pre-College Division and the Berklee College of Music.
Michael McCallie has served on the faculties at Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College in Tifton, GA and Darton College in Albany, GA and was Artistic Director of The Seven Hills Guitar Series in Tallahassee, FL from 2012-2015. Dr. McCallie currently maintains a private guitar studio, serves on the Adjunct faculties at The Cadek Conservatory of Music at The University of Tennessee at Chattanooga and The McCallie School and has recently initiated an after school Suzuki guitar program at The Bright School in Chattanooga, TN.