Biography

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 as 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 and a Bachelor of Music from Stetson University. Additionally, 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: 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 from Home Box Office in New York City.

Michael’s students have received numerous accolades including prizes in international and regional competitions, including the Boston GuitarFest International Guitar Competition, The Tallahassee Bach Parley’s Kids Go For Baroque Youth Competition, The Southern Adventist University Concerto Competition, The Columbus State University Guitar Symposium's International Guitar Competition and the Youth Ensemble Competition at The Guitar Foundation of America. Several of his students have been accepted into the guitar programs at prestigious music schools around the country including: The Berklee College of Music, The Schwob School of Music at Columbus State, The Mannes School of Music’s Pre-College Division, Florida State University and the Pre-College Division at The Juilliard School.

Michael McCallie is in demand as a guest lecturer and clinician. In 2017, Michael was chosen to conduct the GA Honors Guitar Orchestra at the GA Honors Guitar Festival at Reinhardt University and has twice presented lectures on guitar education at the Georgia Music Educators Association's annual convention. He has served as an adjudicator at the Troy University Guitar Festival and Competition. In October 2018, Dr. McCallie will conduct the Festival Orchestra at the Florida Guitar Festival and Competition at the Florida State University College of Music where he will lead one of the first performances of a new piece by Grammy award-winning composer Sergio Assad with William Kanengiser, Professor of Guitar at the University of Southern California, as soloist.

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. He currently serves on the Adjunct faculties at Covenant College and Chattanooga State Community College.

Michael maintains one of the largest and most celebrated classical guitar studios in the State of Tennessee and is the Exectutive Director of GuitarChattanooga, a guitar-driven non-profit organization based in Chattanooga, TN.