Tim Beattie is a Canadian guitarist whose playing boasts “impeccable technique, great expressivity, and artistic sensitivity” (Leo Brouwer).

Named one of CBC Music’s ‘30 Hot Classical Musicians under 30’ in 2025, Beattie gained international attention after winning the 2018 Brussels International Guitar Competition. He has since performed across Europe and North America, earning top prizes at international competitions in Antwerp, Brussels, Calgary, Enschede, Hamilton, Leicester, Manhattan, and Uppsala. 

Beattie has performed in venues including Amsterdam Concertgebouw Spiegelzaal, Carnegie Hall, FirstOntario Concert Hall, Wiener Musikverein, Muziekgebouw Amsterdam, Perth Concert Hall, and appeared in festivals including the Bath International Music Festival, Brussels International Guitar Festival, Cleveland International Guitar Festival, Festival Áureo Herrero (Spain), Festival Corde D’Autunno (Italy), Kitaranova Festival (Finland), Lammermuir Festival, and many others. His performances have also been featured on Dutch National TV (Podium Klassiek) and BBC Radio Scotland.

A dedicated chamber musician, Beattie is a founding member of Quartet Malamatina and has appeared in collaboration with artists such as Nai Barghouti, Rosanne Philippens, Steven Dann, Daniel Hamin Go, Ryan Corbett, Sean Shibe, Sasha Savaloni, and Tucker St Ivany. His ensemble work extends to regular production tours with the Canadian Opera Company, Royal Scottish National Orchestra, and Scottish Opera.

Beattie was a scholarship student at the Amsterdam Conservatory, where he completed his BMus in 2019 with honours (cum laude). He undertook fully-funded postgraduate studies at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland, earning an MMus in 2021 and an Artist Diploma in 2022. In 2022, he became the first guitarist ever invited to join the prestigious Rebanks Fellowship at The Royal Conservatory of Music in Toronto.

Tim is currently pursuing a PhD at the University of Surrey’s International Guitar Research Centre, and is an Associate Teacher of guitar at the University of St Andrews Laidlaw Music Centre and the founding director of St Andrews GuitarFest (Scotland) and Simcoe Guitar (Canada).

He maintains a busy concert schedule and regularly visits institutions across Canada and the UK as a guest lecturer; most recently at the Alberta Strings Association, Calgary Classical Guitar Society, Mount Royal University, Royal Conservatoire of Scotland, University of Alberta, University of Lethbridge, and the University of Regina.

Tim is grateful for the generous support of the Amsterdam University of the Arts ‘AHK Talent Grant’, Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity, Canada Council for the Arts, CIM Trust, Guitar Society of Toronto, RCS Trust, Royal Classics Strings, Royal Overseas League, Sylva Gelber Foundation, Tillett Trust, Weston Family Foundation, and The Worshipful Company of Musicians.