David Ellis

David Ellis grew up in Seattle, Washington and began playing guitar at the age of eight. At fifteen he began studying classical guitar and the following year he won first place in the Washington state solo competition. As featured soloist with his high school orchestra he performed in London, Paris, Munich and Vienna. In 1986 David moved to Los Angeles to attend USC, where he earned both a Bachelors and Masters of Music degree, and was named Outstanding Graduate upon completion of each degree. He his debut recording, Canto for Guitar was reviewed in Soundboard and has received airplay on radio stations KPFK (90.7 FM), KUSC (91.5 FM) and KMZT(105.1 FM). He currently free-lances as a classical guitarist throughout Southern California.Recent highlights include playing on the red carpet for the 71st- 74th Academy Awards along with fellow guitarist Jordan Charnofsky, performing the Missa Criolla of Ariel Ramirez with the Los Robles Master Chorale, being one of only three guitarists to perform at the second annual USC alumni guitar recital, and performing in the garden of the newly opened Disney Hall.David has been a guitar instructor at McCabes Guitar Shop in Santa Monica since 1990. His students have been accepted into music programs at USC, UCLA, UC Irvine, Cal State Long Beach and the Berkelee School of Music. He has also taught at New Roads School, Moorpark College, and begun community programs through the Santa Monica YMCA and the Santa Monica Parks and Recreation Department.