Chris Howard has been playing guitar for over 25 years and has taught professionally since 1993. His skills as an artist and teacher extend across a broad spectrum of musical genres.

He has studied classical guitar under Norman Ruiz (adjunct guitarist, Chicago Symphony Orchestra), David Franzen (founder of the Oregon Guitar Quartet) and has taken master classes in Cordoba, Spain with renowned classical guitarist Pepe Romero.

Mr. Howard's jazz studies began in Illinois under the instruction of James Warrick, winner of the 2005 Downbeat Magazine Lifetime Achievement Award and head of the nationally acclaimed New Trier High School jazz program - a consistent contender for Downbeat's top national honors.

Chris earned a BA in Music Performance at Pacific University in Forest Grove, Oregon, under the direction of Chris Bruya (multiple award-winning band director at the Moscow Jazz Festival) and studied jazz guitar with Anson Wright. He has worked on-staff at the Mount Hood Festival of Jazz and studied, in both master classes and privately, under Dan Balmer, one of the Northwest's most revered jazz guitarists.

Chris' Chicago background has also given him a solid foundation in blues and rock. As a young guitarist with The Junction, he shared the stage with guitar legend Buddy Guy and The Marshall Tucker Band.

In Portland, Chris is currently exploring a new adventure in rock, incorporating computers into the live music setting.