Travis Lewis is a guitar player, educator, and composer with over 20 years of experience as a performer and educator in both the United States and Japan. He received a Doctor of Musical Arts degree from the University of Illinois Champaign-Urbana where he served as undergraduate guitar teacher to the jazz department under the tutelage of Lawrence Gray. Travis did his undergraduate and Master’s work under the instruction of 7-string guitarist Rick Haydon.
Travis has a diverse and prolific background playing in multiple eclectic ensembles. Between the years of 2005-2011, Travis made a name for himself in Hiroshima where he performed and taught throughout Japan. Currently, he is the guitar player in the St. Louis based group Yowie. His other accomplishments include his work with the nationally known band So Many Dynamos. As a member of the Dynamos, he performed at several major venues and music festivals throughout the U.S. A small list of these include South by Southwest, Pygmalion, and the Valley of the Vapors.
As a jazz musician, Lewis is a top call guitarist in St. Louis and has performed with several major jazz artists including the Terrance Blanchard, The George Gee Orchestra, Dave Scott, Dave Pietro, Ken Peplowski, Terrell Stafford, and The Jim Widner Big Band. He has also performed at several conferences including those held by the Jazz Educators Network, North American Saxophone Alliance, and most recently the College Music Society’s national conference in Santa Fe, NM where he gave a solo guitar performance presentation that featured the music of Aaron Copland and Ennio Morricone.
Travis is the Manager of Education and Community Engagement at Jazz St. Louis. He has also held roles as the Manager of Education at the National Blues Museum and as Director of Education and later Executive Director for St. Louis Classical Guitar. He also has held or holds teaching appointments at Saint Louis University, Webster University, Jefferson College, University of Missouri-St. Louis, University of Illinois Champaign-Urbana, Southern Illinois University Edwardsville, Blackburn College, JazzSTL, KDHX Folk School, and Kure Showa High School in Hiroshima, Japan.