Chris Acquavella is a classical mandolinist & educator from San Diego, California, who currently lives in Mainz, Germany. He graduated First Class Honors from Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music & Dance in London, England. Chris studied under the instruction of Alison Stephens, as well as composition with Andrew Poppy. In 2004, Chris won the Wolfsan Foundation Music Award and was awarded the TCM Trust Silver Medal for String Studies in 2006. Chris Acquavella performs across Europe and America both in a solo and chamber music capacity. Aside from chamber music, he concertizes as a soloist & orchestral musician with various orchestras & ensembles throughout the world such as Duo Acquavella (DE), Dartington Festival Orchestra (UK), Detmold Landestheater (DE), Ensemble Lippe Barock (DE), GER Mandolin Orchestra (USA), Bach Collegium San Diego (USA), San Diego Opera (USA) and the San Diego Symphony (USA).
Recordings include: Letter from London, EP (2006), Duo LaRé: In Other Words (Water Village Records, 2010), and Praeludium (Water Village Records, 2011). Chris is currently a recording artist for America’s oldest and largest independent classical label, Centaur Records, Inc. Duo Acquavella with Bach Collegium San Diego; Gimo-Samling: 18th Century Sonatas and Triosonatas for Mandolin (CRC 3466) was released on Centaur Records in March 2016.
As the Artistic Director of the San Diego Classical Mandolin Camp, Chris Acquavella has created a program that explores the depth and breadth of the classical mandolin, from baroque to modern times, through 5 days of intensive classes, rehearsals, and concerts. He has performed & taught workshops at the Classical Mandolin Society of America Conventions, River of the West Camp and the David Grisman & Mike Marshall Mandolin Symposium, as well as across the globe on his various tours.
Aside from teaching and performing on the mandolin, Chris is a composer of new works for mandolin & mandolin ensembles. He studied composition at Trinity Laban Conservatory of Music and Dance, under the tuition of Andrew Poppy. Up to date, Chris has 20 compositions that are published by Joachim-Trekel-Musikverlag, Hamburg and Astute Music, Ltd. Some of his most popular compositions are Imardin for solo mandolin (T6457), 2014 for solo mandolin (T6629), Journey to Pazardzhik for baroque mandolino (T6568), Wishes for two mandolins (am514-28), and Yutuma for zupforchester (R9430). Chris Acquavella is co-author, along with Alison Stephens, of The Mandolin Companion (am514-25).
Chris performs on mandolins by Brian N. Dean of Labraid and Alfred Woll