Neil Beckmann is a Brooklyn-based guitarist, teacher, instrument builder, and arts worker interested in creating an expansive life in music for himself and others. Encompassing performing, teaching, commissioning new works, exploring the diverse plucked string instrument family, and making his own instruments, he hopes to engender a spirit of curiosity for how music can be made, explored, and performed through many different lenses.
He has performed at Lincoln Center, Merkin Concert Hall, El Museo del Barrio, the University of Pennsylvania, and MASS MoCA in solo, chamber, improvisational, and orchestral settings. In 2020, he collaborated with Heartbeat Opera on a digital reimagining of Verdi’s Macbeth entitled Lady M, where he played classical and electric guitars, lute, and mandolin.
Originally from Cincinnati, Ohio, Neil lives and works in New York City as a freelancer traveling around the city to teach and perform and is the co-label manager at New Focus Recordings.
Formative teachers include David Starobin, David Leisner, Clare Callahan, Rodney Stuckey, Daniel Swenberg, and oodles of books and YouTube videos to learn how to make instruments in his apartment.
