John Williams

Name: John Williams

Dates: born 1944

Style: Classical Guitar

Bio: John WIlliams is one of the most celebrated classical guitarists of the 20th Century. Born in Melbourne Australia but moved to London when he was 10 years old. Williams was also a child prodigy and was taught by his father  mastering the Classical Guitar by his early teens. He came to the attention of the great Andres Segovia who mentored him in his early years at the Academia Chigiana. Williams rose to great prominence in the 1960s and 1970s through his extensive touring but also by performing a lot on TV shows which had audiences of millions. He recorded prolifically and it is said he has recorded over 200 albums over 60 years.

Williams, like Paco De Lucia enjoyed collaborating with musicians outside classical guitar, these included flamenco guitarist Paco Pena, jazz guitarist John Etheridge, Chilean group Into Illimani, violinist Itzhak Perlman, and many more. Williams also (somewhat controversially) created a rock band in the early 80s called Sky. They went on to be quite popular.

Interviews

I had the pleasure of interviewing John Williams on my podcast, here is the interview:

Doumentaries