Hailed by NBC News for making “…the guitar sing like it was invented only to be in his hands,” Tye Austin is an American virtuoso guitarist and composer dedicated to making classical music more accessible to mainstream audiences of all ages. He has performed solo at NYC’s Carnegie Hall, London’s Royal Albert Hall, the Oregon Shakespeare Festival, and many other prestigious venues around the world. In 2017, he performed for over 300 world leaders during an event to eradicate global poverty hosted at the United Nations Headquarters in Manhattan, NY. The following year, he was invited to perform for the former Australian Prime Minister in the penthouse suite on the 72nd floor of the Trump World Tower located on the UN Plaza. In 2019, Tye moved to Shanghai, China for a music performance and education residency with the iSchool of Music. He was subsequently hired as the principal classical guitarist for Royal Caribbean International Cruise Lines in 2020.

Descending from Franco-Spanish ancestry and notorious pirates of the Caribbean, Tye specializes in guitar music from Spain, France, and the Americas. He performs a wide range of repertoire from classical to flamenco, fado, chanson, samba, bossa nova, tango, choro, jazz, and more. He also sings in English, Spanish, French, Italian, and Portuguese. In addition to his solo guitar work, he frequently collaborates with various orchestras, string quartets, and chamber music ensembles across the US. 

As a prodigious composer with several commissions to his name, Tye is dedicated to expanding the classical guitar repertoire. In 2017, Tye was commissioned to arrange and perform French renaissance music for guitar and string quartet at the premiere party for the Netflix original series, “Versailles,” hosted by the United States French Embassy. In 2019, he was asked to be one of Classical Guitar Magazine’s top 10 composers for classical guitar chamber music in the world. The final aim of his music is to glorify God and refresh the human soul.

Tye bought his first guitar at a pawn shop after attending a Spanish guitar concert for the first time in 2007. “I will never forget that magical night. I witnessed one guitar being played like four guitars simultaneously. An epiphany washed over me and suddenly I knew exactly what I wanted to do with my life. I had found my passion, my purpose, and my best friend,” says Tye. As a self-proclaimed antihero of classical music, he is determined to belay antiquated social hierarchies and seize his musical destiny by the throat.

Tye graduated his master of music degree in classical guitar performance from the New England Conservatory of Music, under the tutelage of Eliot Fisk. He also received his bachelor of arts degree (summa cum laude) in classical guitar performance and music composition from the Oregon Center for the Arts at Southern Oregon University, under the tutelage of James Edwards and Mark Jacobs. Tye has studied in masterclasses with Grammy Award-winners, Sharon Isbin (The Juilliard School), Jason Vieaux (Curtis Institute), Scott Tennant (USC), and many other legendary guitar pedagogues. He furthered his studies in flamenco and classical guitar performance for a summer abroad program with David Martinez at the Royal Conservatory of Music in Granada, Spain.

Tye is currently preparing to record his debut album, Iberia: Spanish Guitar Music, which will be recorded at Pyrophorus Studios in Barcelona, Spain in April, 2026. This album will pay homage to his solo journey across Spain in 2015. Tye has recently founded his own non-profit concert series entitled, Wilder Frets: Classical Guitar in the Wild, which replaces the traditional concert hall with wilderness landscapes in the Pacific Northwest. He also teaches private guitar lessons at his home studio nestled in the Noble Woods in Hillsboro, Oregon. In his spare time, he enjoys snowboarding on Mt. Hood, surfing along the Oregon Coast, foraging for wild adaptogenic mushrooms, fly-fishing for salmon/steelhead, bow-hunting for deer/elk, and chasing waterfalls and hot springs across the American West.

If you’d like more information about how to make a tax-deductible donation to his non-profit, book a guitar lesson, or contact him for any other reason, please email info@tyeaustin.com

Tye performs on a custom 2024 Maxwell T. Sipe guitar, constructed solely with wood harvested from his home state in Oregon. He is sponsored by Savage Classical Guitar Strings, Sageworks Guitar Supports, and Sipe Guitars.