Christopher Mallett

Christopher Mallett is a classical guitarist and educator based in the San Francisco Bay Area. He has performed across America and Asia at venues such as the Kravis Center, The Sheldon Concert Hall, and the Guitar Foundation of America Convention. His work with Duo Noire and DuoSF has received critical acclaim. His latest solo album on Naxos highlights 19th-century African American guitarist and composer Justin Holland.

Christopher co-founded the California Conservatory of Music in 2011, serving over 1,300 students across two locations, and Practice Space, a learning management platform for music education. He is co-artistic director of the Peninsula Guitar Series, serves on the guitar faculty at UC Santa Cruz, and is the former board chair of the Guitar Foundation of America.

Dedicated to community engagement, Christopher has completed residencies with the St. Louis Guitar Society, Austin Classical Guitar, and Lead Guitar, performing for thousands of students nationwide. He has been featured in Classical Guitar Magazine, Acoustic Guitar Magazine, and Soundboard Magazine.

His students have won top prizes in major international guitar competitions, including the GFA, James Stroud, Columbus Guitar Symposium, and Boston GuitarFest. Several have performed on NPR’s From the Top and Tiny Desk Concert series. Christopher has taught using The Suzuki® Method for over a decade and worked alongside Frank Longay.

Christopher holds degrees from Yale School of Music and Oberlin Conservatory, where he studied with Benjamin Verdery and Stephen Aron.