Christopher Delisa

Colorado classical guitarist Chris Delisa enjoys a multifaceted musical career as a performer, arranger, composer, and blogger.  Chris began his journey with the guitar in 2004, originally influenced by a variety of legendary classic rock bands including Black Sabbath and Deep Purple.  By high school, he broadened his musical horizons and began studying jazz guitar.  Ultimately, his guitar studies shifted to the world of classical guitar after being inspired by the music of Spanish composer, Francisco Tárrega. 

Chris has earned degrees from Metropolitan State University of Denver (BM) as well as Colorado State University (MM) where he served as a graduate teaching assistant.  While a student at MSU, Chris was the first guitarist to compete in the school’s concerto competition and performed its inaugural Honors Recital, only offered to the school’s most talented students.  He was also a recipient of MSU’s Music Talent Award and a three-time winner of the Jim Altman Guitar Scholarship.

Chris’ primary instructors include David Bailey, Alex Komodore, and Jeff LaQuatra.  During his years as a student, Chris participated in Masterclasses by some of the classical guitar world’s most acclaimed performers and teachers including David Russell, Jason Vieaux, Martha Masters, Alexander Dunn, and Matt Palmer. 

As a performer, Chris received 2nd prize in the 2022 One World Prairie Guitar Contest in Cheyenne, Wyoming.  He has participated in a variety of chamber music ensembles with harp, flute, clarinet, and has also performed with Colorado State University’s Wind Symphony.  His solo repertoire includes a variety of compositional styles, from the Baroque suites of Johann Sebastian Bach, classical guitar standards by Joaquin Turina and Giulio Regondi, as well as ground-breaking contemporary works including Chris’ forthcoming collection of concert etudes, Morceaux Désagréables.  In 2019, Chris was featured on Kyle Throw’s recording, Tranquil Memories, a collection of arrangements from Shadow of the Colossus for guitar duo. 

Since 2017, Chris has developed Infinite Fretboard (www.infinitefretboard.com), an online guitar resource for performers and scholars, publishing a variety of guitar-centric articles, as well as videos demonstrating numerous theoretical concepts.