Described as “a natural performer who infuses his interpretations with energy, excitement, and a broad expressive range”, Canadian guitarist Ben Diamond is a well rounded musician who’s passion knows no limits. He is active as an educator, improviser, performer, and collaborator pursuing a wide variety of projects that contribute to the evolution of the 21st century guitar. A recent graduate from the M. Mus in performance program at Schulich School of Music (McGill University), Ben’s primary focus is the collaboration with composers to create new works for the guitar.
It is his success in premiering contemporary music and love for community building that has earned him many accolades such as the “CBC 30 under 30 hot classical musicians” in 2021, the 2021 ArtsNL Emerging Artist of the year award, and a nomination for the 2025 East Coast Music Award for Electronic Release of the Year. Ben has also placed in competitions such as the 2019 FCMF National Music Festival (SK), 2022 Twisted Spruce International Competition (Virtual), 2023 Domaine Forget International Guitar Competition (QC), Festival-concours de musique Sherbrooke (2024), and the Classival - concours de musique classique (QC, 2025).
Ben released his debut solo album in 2020 titled PRIME, and features music by Canadian composers Dale Kavanagh, Andrew Staniland, Jason Noble, Holly Winter, Steve Murphy, and Joseph Donaghey. The album would serve as a unique contribution to the growing discography of Canadian music for guitar, and was also nominated for the Music NL Classical Release of the Year award in 2021. That same year, Ben moved to Montreal in pursuit of graduate studies in performance at the Schulich School of Music. It was in Montreal that Ben would focus on expanding the electroacoustic catalogue for guitar, with a final recital which presented contrasting electroacoustic works for guitar. In combination with Ben’s previously commissioned works and his final recital repertoire, this newly curated programme of electroacoustic music would become his second album, VOYAGE, released in 2024.
Published via RedShift Records, VOYAGE and its repertoire strive to tell relatable stories about personal journey, sacrifice, change, and triumph through adversity. VOYAGE features works by Luke Blackmore, Krists Auznieks, Andrew Staniland, Amy Brandon, and Marco Neri. PRIME and VOYAGE are available for purchase in physical copies, and are available online on popular streaming sites. It is with repertoire from PRIME and VOYAGE that Ben has performed in festivals such as with Sound Symposium (2019, 2022), Newfound Music Festival and Conference (2024), 21st Century Guitar Conference (2019), Codes d’acces (2024), Open Ears Festival of Music and Sound (2024), and the East Coast Music Awards (2025).
An avid educator, Ben has given guitar lessons to a variety of students both in person and online. In St. John’s, Ben founded the classical guitar program with the Suzuki Talent Education Program (STEP), and also teaches at Dynamic Sounds Music Studio. He has given masterclasses for the students at Acadia University, Memorial University, the Connecticut Guitar Guild, Ottawa Guitar Society, and the Atlantic Guitar Society for which he co-founded in 2020. Ben has served as an adjudicator with the Federation of Canadian Music Festivals (2023, 2025) and with the Ontario Provincial Music Festivals Association in 2024.
Ben’s former teachers include Sylvie Proulx, Steve Cowan, Patrick Kearney, and Jérôme Ducharme. Outside of his musical endeavors, Ben enjoys spending time with family and friends, going outdoors, and exercising. He is an ambassador for Augustine strings, and plays guitars by Canadian luthier Ross Chiasson.