Mike Christiansen, classroom guitar & curriculum author, is Professor Emeritus in the Music Department at Utah State University. Mike founded the guitar program at USU, and was Director of Guitar Studies at USU for 39 years. In 1994, he was selected as Professor of the Year at Utah State University. Mike received the ASTA (American String Teachers Association) Utah Chapter Outstanding Collegiate Educator of the Year Award in 2006.  In December of 2012, Mike was selected as one of the U.S. Carnegie Professors of the Year, and was also selected as the USU Caine College of the Arts Professor of the Year. In 2013, he was invited to be a TED speaker. Mike is a renowned guitar educator and has taught classroom guitar and ukulele workshops at many schools. He is a frequent clinician for guitarists and classroom guitar guitar instructors at various conferences. He averages over 130 performances annually as a soloist, with the group Phase II, and with the Lightwood Duo (a clarinet-guitar duo which has released six recordings). Mike is the author and/or co-author of 44 guitar books and appears on hundreds of instructional guitar videos. He has performed with many artists including: Jack Petersen, Glen Frey (the Eagles), Joe Diorio, Sid Jacobs, Jose Posadas, Tommy Emmanuel, Johnny Hilland, Natalie Cole, and the Mormon Tabernacle Choir.