Press Kit

PRESS/MEDIA KIT 

Tye Austin, M.M.
Classical Guitar Virtuoso & Artistic Director
Wilder Frets: Classical Guitar in the Wilderness

”Tye Austin can make the guitar sing like it was invented only to be in his hands.” -NBC News

”Tye Austin is one of the best classical guitarists in the world.” -CBS News

”Tye Austin led us into a musical embrace.” -Psychology Today

“Tye Austin performs with a natural poetry possessed by a rare few.” -Eliot Fisk, Artistic Director of Boston Guitar Fest and New England Conservatory

PRESS RELEASE – FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Tye Austin is the Artistic Director of Wilder Frets: Classical Guitar in the Wilderness

Oregon-born classical guitarist and composer Tye Austin, M.M. is the principal headliner and Artistic Director of Wilder Frets, an innovative performance series that places the classical guitar at the center of immersive solo, chamber and orchestral concerts in the natural world.

Hailed by NBC News for making “the guitar sing like it was invented only to be in his hands,” Austin is internationally recognized for his expressive virtuosity and artistic depth. His performances have taken him to Carnegie Hall, London’s Royal Albert Hall, the Oregon Shakespeare Festival, and many other concert halls across Europe, Asia, and the Americas. Career highlights include performances for 300 world leaders at the United Nations, for the former Prime Minister of Australia at Trump World Tower, and a performance and teaching residency in Shanghai, China, prior to serving as principal classical guitarist for Royal Caribbean International.

Under Austin’s leadership, Wilder Frets has emerged as a bold cultural initiative—merging world-class artistry, environmental immersion, and community engagement. Through solo and chamber concerts, emerging artist collaborations, and celebrity guest performances, Wilder Frets expands the reach of classical music while offering donors, audiences, and artists a deeply human and transformative experience.

For media inquiries, bookings, lessons, or donation opportunities:
info@tyeaustin.com | (541) 324-3938

HEADLINING ARTIST BIO

Descending from Franco-Spanish Pirates of the Caribbean, Tye Austin is known for his rare and expressive range that spans Spanish, French, Latin American, and American traditions, including classical, flamenco, fado, chanson, samba, tango, jazz, choro, and his original compositions. He sings fluently in English, Spanish, French, Italian, and Portuguese, and collaborates regularly with orchestras, chamber ensembles, and string quartets nationwide.

Austin holds a Master of Music degree from the New England Conservatory, where he studied under legendary guitarist Eliot Fisk. His training includes private studies and masterclasses with Grammy Award winners Sharon Isbin, Jason Vieaux, and Scott Tennant, as well as advanced study at the Royal Conservatory of Music in Granada, Spain. 

A celebrated composer, Austin has received numerous commissions, including a 2017 collaboration with the United States French Embassy for the Netflix series premiere of Versailles. In 2019, Classical Guitar Magazine named him one of the world’s top ten composers for guitar chamber music. His artistic mission is rooted in music that seeks to “glorify God and refresh the human soul.”

He performs on a custom 2024 Maxwell T. Sipe guitar, crafted entirely from Oregon-harvested wood, and is sponsored by Savage Classical Guitar Strings, Sageworks Guitar Supports, and Sipe Guitars.

Austin is currently preparing his debut album, Iberia: Spanish Guitar Music, to be recorded in Barcelona in 2026. When he’s not touring, he teaches from his studio in the Noble Woods of Hillsboro, Oregon, and enjoys snowboarding, surfing, fly-fishing, bow-hunting, and foraging in the Pacific Northwest.

PROGRAMMING HIGHLIGHTS

Chamber Music & Emerging Guest Artist Series

The Chamber Music & Emerging Guest Artist Series is the creative heartbeat of Wilder Frets—where the classical guitar becomes a bridge between inter-disciplinary artists, audiences, and the natural world.

Each performance is thoughtfully designed to highlight the guitar’s extraordinary expressive range, unfolding within immersive outdoor environments shaped by forest canopies, canyon walls, coastal air, and mountain stillness. Under Austin’s artistic leadership, Wilder Frets collaborates with emerging and early-career musicians, offering them meaningful, fairly compensated opportunities beyond traditional concert halls. Ensemble formats include: guitar duos—guitar with violin, cello, harp, or marimba—guitar, bass, and percussion trios—and chamber works for guitar and string quartet.

Programming spans centuries and continents—blending baroque and classical repertoire, contemplative soundscapes, Latin and world traditions, and bold cross-genre collaborations. These concerts invite audiences into a listening experience that is intimate yet expansive, where music unfolds in dialogue with wind, water, birdsong, and land.

Celebrity Guest Artist Series

Wilder Frets’ Celebrity Guest Artist Series brings some of the world’s most celebrated musicians into intimate wilderness settings, creating once-in-a-lifetime chamber and orchestral collaborations with our Artistic Director.

Potential collaborators include internationally renowned artists such as Yo-Yo Ma, Renée Fleming, Ray Chen, Joshua Bell, HAUSER, Teddy Abrams, Sharon Isbin, Eliot Fisk, Jason Vieaux, David Russell, Miloš Karadaglić, Ana Vidović, Manuel Barrueco, Rosie Bennet, Alexandra Whittingham and others—many of whom Austin knows personally through decades of performance, study, and touring.

These collaborations prioritize artistic intimacy rather than spectacle, presenting world-class musicians performing side-by-side, centered around the classical guitar. Programs range from refined chamber works to large-scale concerto performances, including guitar concerti with the Wilder Frets Symphony Orchestra, featuring musicians drawn from the Oregon Symphony, Portland Ballet Orchestra, and other leading ensembles in the PNW. Signature repertoire includes: Rodrigo’s Concierto de Aranjuez—concerti by Vivaldi, Villa-Lobos, Castelnuovo-Tedesco, Giuliani, and Carulli—plus Tye Austin’s Oregon Guitar Concerto.

Select performances will be professionally live-streamed and recorded, extending Wilder Frets’ impact to global audiences and positioning the organization as a cultural destination where music, nature, and community converge.

MEDIA ASSETS (AVAILABLE UPON REQUEST)

Artist Portraits and Performance Photos (Scroll to view gallery) 

Logo Images (Scroll to view gallery) 

Past Press Coverage

Music videos, albums, and social media (@tyeaustinguitar)

ABOUT WILDER FRETS

Wilder Frets is a classical music initiative dedicated to artistic excellence, environmental immersion, and community connection. By centering the classical guitar and reimagining where and how music is experienced, Wilder Frets creates performances that are deeply human, artistically refined, and rooted in the natural world.

CONTACT
For press, bookings, partnerships, or donor inquiries:
info@tyeaustin.com | (541) 324-3938